Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin where Deputy Smith left off when he mentioned the Cavan, Monaghan and Sligo area. Before I get into the issue, I welcome our visiting delegations and thank them for the presentation. It is important that we develop services on this side of the Border in our hospitals and there should be a strategy for the Cavan-Monaghan hospital group, as well as Sligo. In my constituency there are the Cavan and Monaghan hospitals, which have services that can be available to people north of the Border. That must be a very important part of our strategy. What is happening in Altnagelvin is good, and I am sure the Chairman is acutely aware of the benefit of that. We have listened to radio programmes for a long time about people travelling on buses to Galway from Letterkenny and Inishowen. These were harrowing stories, so it is a great development. Just as we see the Altnagelvin development, there is an onus on the Department and the HSE to ensure we develop services on our side that will draw patients from the South as well as the North. There must be co-operation on both sides about the use of these services and their rationalisation, etc., and it is important that we gear up the services too.

I am very happy that the congenital cardiac services will be provided on an all-Ireland basis. I, along with the Chairman and others, met a very fine delegation of volunteers in the reception area of LH 2000 who campaigned for this issue, as well as parents of children with congenital cardiac conditions. They were campaigning for an all-Ireland centre of excellence. I am happy about that because I was very impressed with the sincerity of the delegation, and we did what we could at the time by going to the Minister. Will a timeframe be provided on that issue and how will it develop in practical terms? It must be very reassuring to parents with children affected by the issue. I subscribe to what has been said about air medical support, which should operate on an all-Ireland basis. Given the size of the country, it does not make sense that it would be otherwise.

Alcohol has come into a tragic focus in Ireland in the past week with the events surrounding the practice of "neknomination" and the two fatalities connected to it. The other night I saw one or two examples of horrific posts that concerned the practice. In one post there was a seven year old child and a baby in a cot as the people took part in the practice, and I can confidentially direct colleagues to that post if they are interested. It was horrific stuff to watch. It is a major problem. I know it is not on the agenda here but Facebook has a responsibility to take these types of posts off its website. If it cannot do so, it should be shut down. We cannot have it as it is an horrendous practice; it gives a terrible example and has horrendous consequences. Although it is not strictly in today's brief, it underlines the gravity of what has been said by the delegation about alcohol.

I agree about the minimum unit pricing. Will the witness elaborate on how the Department sees that progressing, although I know there is a political dimension to this? Deputy Conlan spoke very eloquently earlier and both he and Deputy Smith could speak about how we have seen cycles over the past number of years. In one period everybody would go north to buy cheap alcohol but in another period they may come south to buy it as pricing changes. People fill their car boots full of very cheap alcohol, so minimum unit pricing is critical. There should also be a standardisation of pricing in the North and South.

We must make it a less attractive product for people. A youngster can go out with €20 tonight and buy four pints of beer in a conventional bar, where he or she would drink them in a social environment. That youngster could with the same money buy 20 cans of lager and bring it home to drink it unsupervised and without any social control. That is what we are dealing with, so it is a very big issue. Whether we like it or not, there is a correlation between pricing, consumption levels and addiction. Will the witnesses comment on how they see the process evolving practically, what is being done and from where progress will come? There is also the issue of tobacco packaging. Empirical findings suggest that if plain and unattractive packing is used, it will have an impact on young people starting to smoke. The Minister is right in going after that issue.

We have heard about other practical issues, such as the doctor-on-call system.

My colleague, Deputy Conlan, might have more specific information on the matter due to his location. My understanding, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that we have not developed a satisfactory doctor-on-call system, north and south of the Border. That should be an area of practical co-operation that we could achieve and that would be efficacious on every level. I ask the delegation to comment on the matter and I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong. I know that it was not the case some months ago and presume nothing has changed. Similarly, we do not have an adequate cross-Border ambulance service. I mean an ambulance that would work in a Border radius area, would pick up people on either side of the Border and be able to travel to Enniskillen, Cavan, Monaghan or whatever is required. That is an important issue.

Obviously the points made on food safety do not merit repeating because they were adequately made. They are also very important points.

I wish to make a general observation. I agree with the colleagues who have expressed frustration with the lack of progress to date in the area. Surely, health is an area that we can achieve co-operation on and should not be so politicised. Health is not about flags or emblems and is universal. Illness is universal and does not respect religious or social barriers. Education is another sector but is much more politicised and problematic. The delivery of health services should be a classic area for co-operation. I know that the Department's bona fides are sound and it wants to co-operate but a lot more should have been achieved. Does the delegation agree with my broad observation that not enough has been done, we could have done a lot more and should quickly make up for lost time?