In its pre-Budget submission, the IMO has called for the establishment of a cross-departmental group to respond to the “chronic problem” of health inequality.

The Organisation said the establishment of a cross-departmental group was critically important to address the fact that people from deprived areas have “far worse” health outcomes that those from affluent areas.

It noted that over half the population who cannot afford private health insurance and rely on the public health system continue to “endure long waiting times to access hospital care”, while five per cent of the population report unmet medical need because of waiting lists.

Dr Anne Dee, IMO President and a public health consultant, said “a person’s health outcomes are based on a range of social and economic factors, with poverty one of the key contributors to poor health”.

“Health inequality is a chronic problem in Ireland, and requires an urgent and significant response from the Government to ensure that children have the best start in life and those in greatest need receive optimal public healthcare.”

She added that “successive governments have failed to sufficiently invest in both bed capacity and our medical workforce, resulting in year-round trolley and waiting list crises as we look to cater for a growing and ageing population with increasingly complex needs. The Government cannot continue to do the bare minimum when it comes to meeting that urgent demand.”

Other recommendations made by union, include a call for an increase in the number of new inpatient beds from 3,438 to 5,000, and the development and funding a comprehensive medical workforce plan with actions laid out to increase the number of consultants and training posts in line with workforce requirements.

The IMO also called for support for the reconstruction of the health service for the population of Gaza with dedicated funding. Dr Dee said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has had a number of appalling effects, “not least the collapse of its healthcare system. The Government must set aside funding to help reconstruct that healthcare system.”

The IMO has described the current situation in Gaza as “intolerable” and it requires “urgent international action”.

In a statement today, the Organisation noted that healthcare workers “are among those starving”, even while striving to treat the wounded and care for communities under “appalling” conditions.

“The health system in Gaza has collapsed,” the IMO said in its statement.  “Doctors are being forced to deliver care in conditions that defy belief. They are under constant threat, without adequate equipment, and often without electricity or clean water.”

Medical workers in Gaza have been injured or killed in the course of their work.

“The IMO expresses its deepest solidarity with healthcare workers in Gaza and their families and salutes their courage and commitment to their work.”

Noting that the UN has reported that the worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in Gaza, the IMO called for the “full and immediate” lifting of all barriers to humanitarian aid.

“Aid must be allowed to flow safely and freely through non-partisan and trusted international partners such as the UN. The deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid and targeting of aid sites is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and their protocols.”

In June the IMO President Dr Anne Dee wrote directly to the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, expressing “grave concern and fear” amid “mass starvation arising from a deliberate blockade of aid (by the State of Israel)”. In her letter, Dr Dee strongly criticised the actions of Israel.

“We are seeing blatant contraventions of international humanitarian law by the State of Israel, and I urge the Irish Government to do all in its power, nationally and through international organisations, to end this horror and to ensure that Israel honours its obligations under international law.”

She wrote that “we abhor the actions of Hamas and we call for the return of hostages and an immediate ceasefire. But what we are witnessing in Gaza at the moment is mass starvation arising from a deliberate blockade of aid through well-established partnerships, by the State of Israel.” 

IMO doctors have called on the Irish Government, medical institutions and bodies to review procurement chains and associations to ensure they are “in line” with United Nations (UN) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings and directives on the war in Gaza and that any procurement does not support military action.

The amended motion, passed at this union’s AGM on 5 April, stated the IMO recognises and supports the position of the UN and the ICJ on the war in Gaza and calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas. The union condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the ongoing attacks by the Israeli government on civilians, healthcare settings and on those seeking to provide care and aid to the people of Gaza. “We further call on the Irish Government, all medical institutions and bodies to review their procurement chains and associations so as to ensure they are in line with the UN and ICJ rulings and directives and that any procurement does not support military action.”

The original motion submitted by the IMO council called on the Irish Government, European Commission and European Parliament to use all diplomatic and financial avenues available to support all relevant agencies on the ground in the provision of healthcare in Gaza (including the reinstatement and augmentation of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

At the conference, Ballinasloe GP Dr Annraoi Finnegan indicated this motion did not go far enough. He said the Israeli government was targeting clearly marked ambulances and hospitals in Gaza, which was completely unacceptable. He stated that support for Palestinian civilians should include measures such as boycotts and sanctions on Israel.

Dublin-based Consultant Gastroenterologist Dr Anthony O’Connor said that when the original motion was written it was “very right and current” but the situation in Gaza was worsening daily. He believed that expressions of condemnation “don’t suffice anymore”.

He said the world was witnessing the targeting of healthcare workers as well as aid workers – seven of whom were “executed by the IDF during the week”.

In proposing the amendment with colleagues, Dr O’Connor continued: “It gives me no pleasure to be calling for sanctions and things like that in Israel, I have huge respect for Israel as a country, I think as a small country it has done more for medicine and healthcare than pretty much any small country in the world with the exception of Scotland … but we can’t be silent and inactive in the face of this.”

He also said that “we must recognise the suffering” of people taken hostage and their families, “and the barbaric acts committed on October 7”.

Dr O’Connor said it would be very difficult to call for a “complete” boycott of Israeli goods in a medical setting as this would mean the cessation of some services. “There is a practical world we have to live in, and we have to be mindful of our own patients’ suffering as well. But I think where possible … the time has come now for us not to support Israeli goods in my opinion …and the health service is a massive consumer and procurer of goods and really needs to be mindful of how they do that.”

Seconding the amended motion, Roscommon GP Dr Martin Daly said: “We condemn what happened on October 7, it was wrong, but any response has to be proportionate and what is happening in Gaza at the moment isn’t proportionate, it is collective punishment by any manner or any measure…”