The simplistic idea behind co-location - to create extra space for public patients in public hospitals by transferring the care of private patients currently occupying beds in those hospital to new private hospitals on the same campus, with the private sector encouraged to pay for these new hospitals through tax-based incentives - is deeply flawed. […]

I don’t know Dr. Gerry Burke.  Were he to walk past me on the street, I wouldn’t know him.  So, please, someone point him out.  I want to buy him a pint.  For Dr Burke has been going around getting himself disliked in certain circles.  He has made a complaint to the Competition Authority, […]

The bloggers over at Dublin Opinion are forever uncovering gems. Their latest little dig, courtesy of Conor, brings us ‘Charley’s March of Time’- an animated promotional film produced by the British Labour Government to explain the introduction of social (or national) insurance back in 1948. This was the foundation of the modern […]

Prohibition of drugs has not only failed in its own terms - it has actually been counterproductive, criminalising large sections of disadvantaged communities while making it more difficult to successfully implement harm reduction measures. At the same time, prohibition ensures continued revenues for the criminal gangs involved in the drugs trade. These are […]

Ah, the haute bourgeoisie - I know the old Scotsman warned us against letting them talk to each other. This is wise counsel but I have found that they can be amazingly open, almost innocent in their discussions. Take the Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers July: never mind the amusing language - […]

“The one thing I want for the country I love is a health system that is accessible to every citizen regardless of their wealth.”

- Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children, 29th September 2004.
It is no understatement to say that the health system in this state lurches from crisis to crisis like some uncontrollable […]