If there is a problem and you need financing to fix it, but the money isn’t there, then the problem tends to last. However, the reverse is also true, because there are several examples where throwing money at problems does not inevitably translate into solutions. One of these cases is Health.
The ministry’s budget allocation has increased year after year, but the problems (new and old) that affect the Unified Health System (SUS) persist. The lack of doctors, the inability to retain professionals, the flight of specialists to the private sector, the disproportionality of resources in the territory, the systematic delays in the first consultations and the high percentage of the population without access to a family doctor are recurring themes in public discussion for decades. There may even be more money, but without structural and courageous solutions to tackle the problems, what are the extra euros for?
On a political level, for those who are in opposition to the Government, it makes little difference whether the investment is greater. To keep the pressure high, what they demand are yesterday’s solutions (as, in fact, Luís Montenegro did when the PS was in power). However, those who have to implement it know – or should know – that consolidating effective policies takes time and there is no chronic problem that can be solved with a magic pass.
Given this situation, it is surprising how the Prime Minister spoke during the presentation of the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device (DECIR) for 2026, which will have a budget increase of another six million euros compared to last year (from 44 to 50 million). “If we have many more vehicles, tracking machines, more teams and availability, we cannot settle for the same result or worse results. We want better results. (…) The order we want to give is to move forward. Stop bureaucracies and technocracies, because the people do not deserve to wait for an answer just because they need to interpret a comma or a paragraph in a given rule”, warned Luís Montenegro.
The Prime Minister’s statements can be read as an appeal to ‘uncomplicate’ some processes, and this is positive, even if it is known that the source of the bureaucratic burden, in most cases, is the Central State itself. On the other hand, whether intentionally or not, Montenegro has raised the level of demands that will be placed on the Government that it itself leads, even using the argument that, if there is more money, there is, at the same time, less room for excuses.
Brave? Yes, because you will be charged if something goes wrong. Risky? Also. Mainly because, with regard to forest fires – and other natural catastrophes, such as the recent floods –, there is an associated great deal of unpredictability, as the country is increasingly exposed to extreme climatological phenomena, from atmospheric rivers to heat waves and drought, as several experts have warned in recent months.
In Ponte da Barca, watching the Prime Minister’s intervention, were some ministers (Defence, Environment, Agriculture and Sea), including the one who will have the greatest responsibility in this area (Internal Administration). Luís Neves has been in office for less than a month and already has a message from his boss. The pressure got higher.
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