The health service is in need of radical reform, according to Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) president John Cannon, who described the Irish healthcare system as "chronically under-funded and under-resourced" in his presentation of the Organisation's pre-Budget submission.

The IMO said it was imperative that the government focus on two key areas in next month’s Budget:

• Health service capacity: "There has been little or no increase in capacity across our health system despite rising demand from a growing and ageing population," the IMO stated in its submission. "This is the key driver of emergency department overcrowding"
• Medical workforce planning: "Poor medical workforce planning has left us with an on-going shortage of medical specialists and extensive waiting lists for hospital care."