James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The motion tabled by the Progressive Democrats Senators shows their lack of confidence in the Minister. Their consitituents and voters have been urging them to take action on their behalf.

Health care is in a state of chaos. The health status of the population leaves much to be desired. We have the highest rate of death from heart disease and one of the highest mortality rates from cancer in the European Union. We have the lowest life expectancy at the age of 65 in the EU. There is growing evidence of a huge discrepancy in health status across the income scale, with those on low incomes suffering most.

As Senator White acknowledged, we have a two-tier system. Elderly patients in many hospitals are waiting several months for heart operations they could have overnight if they had €15,000. Operating theatres and hospital beds have been closed in several health board regions due to funding shortages. As a member of the Midland Health Board, I speak from experience. Although we reluctantly adopted a service plan, the board still faces a major funding shortfall.

A number of elderly people in my area have been placed in institutions some 50 miles from their homes because accommodation is not available in local nursing homes. We are in a sad and sorry state when elderly people are forced to live far from their families, relatives and neighbours in the twilight of their lives. I have visited some of them and have a list the length of my arm with names of people trying to return to my native County Longford from other counties. I contacted the Midland Health Board just today asking that it do something to facilitate these people. Is it a caring society which forces elderly people to move out of their locality into environments to which they are not used? This is killing off some of our elderly people.