Editing Fine Gael (section)

===Health policies===
The [[Healthcare in the Republic of Ireland|Irish health system]], being administered centrally by the [[Health Service Executive]], is seen to be poor by comparison to other countries in Europe, ranking outside expected levels at 25th according to the Euro Health Consumer Index 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Euro Health Consumer Index 2006 |url=http://www.healthpowerhouse.com/media/RaportEHCI2006en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222020833/http://healthpowerhouse.com/media/RaportEHCI2006en.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2011 |access-date=4 June 2010 |website=healthpowerhouse.com}}</ref>

Fine Gael has long wanted Ireland to break with the system of private health insurance, public medical cards and what it calls the two tiers of the health system and has launched a campaign to see the system reformed. Speaking in favour of the campaign, Fine Gael then health spokesman [[James Reilly (Irish politician)|James Reilly]] stated "Over the last 10&nbsp;years the health service has become a shambles. We regularly have over 350 people on trolleys in A&E, waiting lists that go on for months, outpatient waiting lists that go on for years and cancelled operations across the country..."<ref>{{cite news |date=27 April 2009 |title=FG pledges health service reform |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fg-pledges-health-service-reform-1.839646 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828123408/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fg-pledges-health-service-reform-1.839646?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Ffg-pledges-health-service-reform-1.839646 |archive-date=28 August 2019 |access-date=16 October 2024 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

Fine Gael launched its FairCare campaign and website in April 2009, which stated that the health service would be reformed away from a costly ineffective endeavour, into a publicly regulated system where compulsory [[National health insurance|universal health insurance]] would replace the existing provisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faircare.ie |title=Fine Gael launch Fair Care Website and campaign |publisher=Faircare.ie |access-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416122426/http://www.faircare.ie/ |archive-date=16 April 2010 }}</ref>

This strategy was criticised by Fianna Fáil's then-Minister for Children, [[Barry Andrews (politician)|Barry Andrews]]. The spokesperson for family law and children, [[Alan Shatter|Alan Shatter TD]], robustly defended its proposals as the only means of reducing public expenditure, and providing a service in Ireland more akin to the [[Healthcare in Canada|Canadian]], [[Healthcare in Germany|German]], [[Healthcare in the Netherlands|Dutch]] and [[Healthcare in Austria|Austrian health systems]].

Fine Gael's current healthcare policy revolves around the implementation of [[Sláintecare]], a cross-party plan for the reform of the Irish health system. Sláintecare is focused on introducing "a universal single-tiered health service, which guarantees access based on need, not income… through Universal Health Insurance".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-the-taoiseach/?referrer=http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Work_Of_The_Department/Programme_for_Government/Programme_for_Government_2011-2016|title=Department of the Taoiseach|website=www.gov.ie|access-date=23 September 2021|archive-date=17 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917022849/https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-the-taoiseach/?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taoiseach.gov.ie%2Feng%2FWork_Of_The_Department%2FProgramme_for_Government%2FProgramme_for_Government_2011-2016|url-status=live}}</ref>