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FIANNA FÁIL TD Willie O’Dea has said he isn’t willing to take part in any negotiations to go into government with Fine Gael after the next general election.
“We will not, unlike The Labour Party, prostitute ourselves in advance of the election… to any party that is completely ideologically different,” the Limerick deputy said.
He was speaking to RTÉ’s Saturday with Claire Byrne in the wake of comments this week by Minister Simon Coveney that the two Civil War parties could go into coalition.
However, O’Dea isn’t very keen on the idea.
He said he would refuse to take part in any negotiations on the subject if it came up, but declined to answer whether or not he would step down from politics if this was the situation faced.
O’Dea also speculated that Labour would not be forming part of any negotiations.
“Labour are going to have a good long period, if it exists at all, to repent for the broken promises of the last few years – we’ll lend you a couple of the sackcloths.”
Referring to Coveney’s comments, Labour Junior Minister Ged Nash said it was ‘a bit of a distraction’ to be speculating so far out from an election.
Just because Simon says it, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
Speaking on the same programme, former director of organisations and strategy for Fine Gael Frank Flannery said anyone who believes Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael could go into coalition “has very little sense of Irish history, and even less sense of politics”, noting that both hold very different positions in Irish politics.
This is in contrast to previous comments he has made, ranging from suggesting that the two parties should merge, to saying that the two have a better chance of achieving their aims in a coalition.
Flannery said that if he was advising Fine Gael and Labour, he would say it would best for the two to stick together, and described all the recent speculation as “an extraordinary little fit of pre-election jitters”.
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I am a counsellor and can confirm that there are counsellors nationwide, newly qualified, only looking out for clients, even if the Government subsidised such services, a sliding cheaper scale could meet the state funding meaning vulnerable persons would have someone to speak to at least. Better to sit on a counsellors chair than on a waiting list.
@Vincent Doyle: the government – and frankly most counsellors – don’t care about the poor.
Counsellors charge about 70/hour and most will hear a please for help coupled with a, ‘I don’t have 70/hour’ and say, ‘tough luck’.
Counselling, psychology and psychiatry in Ireland are money rackets largely. Not because people wouldn’t benefit from genuine help, but because the people in the system in Ireland are in it for themselves and their bank accounts.
So of course, vicious cycle, the rich get help and the poor end up suffering needlessly.
@Vincent Doyle: I am not a five-star chef, and I can confirm there are expensive restaurants nationwide, but nobody on minimum wage is able to eat in any of them, for the same reason that they are unable to access councillers nationwide to address their mental health care, because it is beyond their financial means to do so, regardless of the availability.
The solution is really quite simple, deal with the issues that are causing adults and children to fall through the cracks of our mental health care system, delays span months between someone reaching out for help to mental health care services and that help being given.
Nobody presenting to any A&E department bleeding out is being told to wait a month or more, a mental health crisis for a child or adult is the mental equivalent.
@Vincent Doyle: I have a qualification in counselling. But I haven’t used it yet. I want to get experience before I start off. I know there is a huge need for counsellors.
@Pat Corr: see question further down
@Chris O’Brien: Sorry Chris but your talking nonsense there. There are plenty of low cost and free counselling services provided through charities and other NGOs. Most Counsellors are also reasonable and will often charge on a sliding scale based on a person’s financial position. Not all in the private sector make this accommodation but many do
@Vincent Doyle: depends where these guys got their qualifications .
@Chris O’Brien: you don’t expect experts to offer their services for free or at cut costs ? You any idea as to how much to cost to run a practice with insurance and indemnities , annual fees to their professional body , and expenses for constant regular training and seminars . €70 is nothing . The “poor” just need to prioritise ; laying off the drugs would be a start for many of them and stop making excuses .
@Dvsespaña: why the f u c k do you assume that 5 star places ever intended to cater for the minimum wage sect ? Why are you whinging ? It’s not for you nor is it suppose to be for you . (Not you personally )
In every dept most people want the german system(works for all) , we keep getting the american one (works only for wealthy).
Time to bring our troops home from Lebanon. It’s quite clear peace has collapsed with Israel and Lebanon launching attacks against each other. I’d rather our troops brought home safely now instead of them sitting in bunkers with the conflict escalating.
Not properly regulated
And that’s the way the unions & the professional bodies want it
They also run a Monday to Friday health service but people are selfish & continue to get sick/have accidents/give birth at weekends
I am sick to my back teeth hearing of problems & failures in our health service. I’m also sick of muppet politico’s saying it needs more money.
It needs REFORM – real meaningful reform from a minister with the courage to face down all the vested interests
And it appears we haven’t had one of them for the last 40 years
Not properly regulated. Or funded.
Our economy loses 1.8B annually because ADHD isn’t diagnosed or treated.
For context, long term social welfare costs the state 550M. Which is less than a third lost just to ADHD.
And these issues exist because for generations Irish voters choose ‘out of sight out of mind’ for mental health issues. And politicians cynically took advantage of that.
And now we’re all reaping the rewards of our societal shame re mental health issues and our collective hatred of the poor.
Well guess what, pretending problems don’t exist isn’t public healthcare policy. It costs us all. And not a little. It costs us annually more than unemployment. It costs more than out healthcare ‘overspend’.
Until we behave like compassionate humans and fund services for EVERYONE we’ll all just suffer.
The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members
@RIP: bollox ! Pay your way or die . It’s up to clans and families to look after their own. Don’t expect strangers to do it . Thatcher was right about “society”. You want communism or socialism ? You won’t find it in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter )
@Gerry Kelly, great comment, the whole public sector needs both massive reform and investment in proper IT systems. I wouldn’t mind if there were a few billion put aside for it but only if the management and staff are accountable afterwards. Any excess staff in one area could be offered retraining in other areas and if they don’t want that then there is compulsory redundancies. We now have a situation that management get paid the big bucks but can’t make a decision without getting outside consultants in and once they’re in the costs spiral. Time for a root and branch review of it all while we have the money.
There’s two types of Irish people:
- People who have never used mental health services in Ireland/the rich who simply buy what they need despite the high prices – this group has no issues with public mental heath services in Ireland
- People who have tried to use public mental health services in Ireland and aren’t rich – this group feels like they’re in a third world country and are usually treated like garbage.
FFFG has long been reelected by the first group. The second group typically won’t vote FFFG once they realise just how poor the HSE really is. And why.
@Chris O’Brien: mental health issues don’t care about a person’s pedigree or wealth. It effects everyone . The waiting lists effect everyone too . Can’t always buy one’s way out of them . Talking sh it e as usual. Shut the f u ck and do something about your evidentially whiney sh I Tty situation . No one cares about your ranting. You and your kind do nothing but sit on your arse and expect others to spoon feed you. Do us all a big favour and get off social media and do something constructive . Maybe get a job and take those chips off your shoulders towards people who are better than you or more successful. Alternatively , find a river or moving train and don’t look back. Either way, do one. Ranting here is doing you no favours .
So what is stopping you getting the experience?
@Antoni marr: meeting the criteria for registration ? Recognition of qualifications etc , High expense to run a practice ? Might be a bit of a closed shop eg only register practitioners from a certain organisation ? Funding and a lack of resources would be a big issue . Can’t do it for free and the State will have to intervene as those that really need urgent care don’t have the funds to pay for it
One final note, if this could be connected to refugees in ANY WAY the comments would be rammed. But since this only affects the poor and mentally ill all of those, ‘save Ireland from the refugees’ types are completely disinterested.
Go figure.
Save Ireland, unless it’s the poor or sick or elderly then who cares, right lads?
@Chris O’Brien: eh, THE ONLY PEOPLE who rant and rave on this platform about Refugees and the ills of them , which leads to closing down of the comment sections ; and the ONLY PEOPLE who have gone out protesting against refugees etc and acted violently ARE THE POOR ! So , your thesis is , as usual, nonsense . Sincerely get help where you can. Ranting and raving here isn’t the right way to go about it .
Ag we’re all mad
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