Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Department on a clear audit account and it was on time. That is the first thing.

I am reminded of A Tale of Two Cities. This is a tale of two countries. I am fascinated by the language that is used. I wish I had more time today to examine it. I know we are a bilingual country but we certainly have two languages going on here, namely, the language of economics, which is very restricted, and the language of those on the ground who are at the receiving end of this very narrow view. I will preface my comments with that. Do the economists and financial people look at that? The last statistic I looked at before I came in here was that house prices are rising by €1,000 per week. At the end of the month 375 people were on trolleys in hospitals, 37 in Galway, and there are constant moderate reports from consultants telling us that a direct consequence of spending time on trolleys is premature death. Before I ask any specific questions, does that come into their reckoning at all?