Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has said that the Government’s shameful underfunding of health in Budget 2024 will have a catastrophic effect on services right across the state and must be reversed.

Speaking ahead of a Sinn Féin motion on the issue, which will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow, Deputy Cullinane added that the Government must step back from the brink and provide proper resources to keep our health services working.

Teachta Cullinane said:

“Their decision by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the leader of the Green Party, and the Government as a whole, to underfund the Health Service in Budget 2024 is reckless and must be condemned.

“If this decision is not reversed, it will have a devastating effect on hospitals and health services right across the state.

“In Sinn Féin’s motion this week, I am calling on the Government to step back from the brink and provide proper funding to keep our health services working.

“The consequences if they fail to do so will be felt widely across all services. The crisis in Emergency Departments will deepen. Patients will continue to languish on trolleys.

“There will be setbacks across mental health, disabilities, and in key clinical strategies such as cancer, cardiovascular and maternity care. There will be no new money for patients in need of new medicines which become available next year.

“That is a shameful indictment of a Government that has thrown in the towel on health, failing both patients and healthcare workers in the process. Sinn Féin has not.

“The Government must reverse their disastrous decision to deliberately underfund health, and protect patients and those working on the front line.”

Sinn Féin’s motion can be read here.