Róisín Shortall: We need to align our 'very disjointed' health system
The Social Democrats are calling for a new "vision" for the Irish health service.
They are holding a public meeting in Tallaght, Dublin this evening to explore what they believe is wrong with the service and what can be done to fix it.
The party's co-leader, Róisín Shortall, says they want to build a publicly-funded service that is accessible to all.
She said: "We have a very disjointed system with hospitals organised one way and primary care services organised on a very different structure.
"We need to combine and align those two things, in my view.
"But overall, we need to take the vested interests out of health, and the HSE - and indeed the Department and Minister for Health - need to start putting the patient first and designing services around the patient."
