As each day passes, the damage this government has done to the people of Ireland and their health becomes clearer, writes Sara Burke. This article has been cross-posted from the website of Village Magazine.

Government policy since 1997 created the biggest boom and bust experienced by any first-world country since the 1930s. Despite becoming one of the richest countries in the world, even at the height of the boom, the Fianna Fáil/PD government failed to invest sufficiently in social infrastructure, even though there is a direct link between social spending and quality of life.

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Mary Harney's reign as minister was driven by a philosophy that promoted inequality, writes Sara Burke.

Mary Harney has done great harm to the Irish people. Even before she took on the health ministry, PD ideology (under her leadership) has had a disproportionate impact on government economic and social policy. Their agenda has caused particular destruction since 2000 when the PDs began to meddle with health policy and from 2004 when Mary Harney became Minister for Health.

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There is little competition in the Irish health insurance market, writes Sara Burke.

The announcement by VHI Healthcare that it is to increase premium for the majority of its customers by between 15 per cent and 45 per cent is a direct consequence of Government failure to reform both the health system and the private health insurance market.

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Young Traveller men are the most vulnerable to dying by suicide in Ireland today. By Sandy Hazel

In a country with already high suicide rates - fifth highest in Europe for youth suicide according to the National Office for Suicide Prevention – men are more vulnerable to suicide than women. Four times more men in Ireland take their own life than men in the UK. More people die in Ireland by suicide than in car accidents each year, yet road safety campaigns receive ten times the budget of suicide prevention.

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Despite the hefty cut to the health budget in the year ahead, the HSE Service Plan launched in Christmas week provides some rare optimism for 2011. By Sara Burke

HSE CEO Cathal McGee (pictured) launched the HSE Service Plan for 2011 three days before Christmas. Once again the HSE is planning to improve patient care with less money and fewer staff. So what, if anything, is different about this plan and can they really do it without hurting patient care?

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At a long session of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 16 December, there was further grilling of Michael Scanlan, Secretary General in the Dept of Health and Cathal McGee, HSE chief (pictured) on the unorthodox SKILL fund and new information on another health services partnership fund. By Sara Burke Add a comment

Listening to Brian Lenihan's Budget speech, you'd think the health services were going to be untouched by austerity in the years ahead. Although health services make up 27 per cent of current spending, they are just under one-third of the €2.2 billion in cuts outlined, yet they did not even get a mention. By Sara Burke Add a comment

The current stand-off between the VHI and some of Ireland's most high profile private hospitals may result in privately insured patients with VHI cover having to pay more for their care. So, what's going on and why now? By Sara Burke

Every year the VHI negotiates new contracts with Irish private hospitals. The fees the VHI pays for private patients in public hospitals is set by the State but what it pays to private, largely profitable, hospitals is negotiated on a one by one basis.

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