Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the things I have noticed over the years relates to the building programme. We have certain elements of the building programme, including the children's hospital and the new national maternity hospital, for which I presume plans are ongoing at pace. I was told something a number of years ago regarding the very current issue of housing. I went to Ministers, Secretaries General and various people who were in a position to help who all said, regarding every proposal, that it would take about five years to get it going. Would it not then be a good thing to make a start on the issue that immediately comes to mind to those of us who have to deal with the public on the ground?

I will put a final series of questions. In the context of the hospital building programme, the hospital in Naas, which is near where I live, has had an ongoing upgrading programme for years. Such programmes take a certain number of years to complete. If a programme does not start some time, planning permission will lapse and so on. We are not going anywhere fast in that regard. We have issues such as scoliosis, and other urgent issues, which were dealt with by the committee, where it was proven to the committee that a consultant along with a surgical team was able to deal with the issue very effectively in a short period, but everything stopped again and we are back to square one.

On the degree to which the HSE is relevant throughout the regions, and this again relates to capacity and so on, there is a feeling the further you get away from the centre, the less influential the patient is. I believe the patient comes first. There is also the question of the structure of the board. How does Mr. Gloster hope to relate to the structure of the HSE board and work with it? He mentioned something along these lines already. We believe that a basic fundamental in Sláintecare was the extent to which the regions saw the board as being relevant to their position and how influential they are. It is a simple thing and is not rocket science. It is a very simple thing to ensure the board is relevant, that it reaches down to the regions, and that the regions reach up to the board and have access. If they do not, no matter how good the organisation is apart from that, it will fall apart.

We will support Mr. Gloster in every way possible. We will be critical but fair. We will try to reflect the views of our constituents. I am not saying constituents are always right but they are not always wrong either. We need to remember that. We wish Mr. Gloster well in the future. I ask for quick answers, if possible, to the questions I posed. My time has run out.