Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I could not have not used my minute yet. I am not sure what stimulant the Ceann Comhairle is on today, but a minute does not go that quickly.

The budget for mental health dropped from 11% to 7% last year. The task force report on suicide is critical. Travelling the country, I heard the advertisements broadcast nationally for breastcheck, which are very good advertisements. The advertisement states that the procedure is perfectly confidential, safe, takes twenty minutes and provides a phone number. It goes on to state that it is only available in the east and in the midlands. Women in every other area suffer the trauma of hearing these advertisements about saving lives, yet they themselves are not in a position to avail of this very necessary service. Perhaps the Tánaiste might look into that as a matter of real urgency, not just for the facility, but for the business of systematic breast service facilities.

All of this was put into perspective for me yesterday by a man who stood in my own office in Castlebar, with a bag of blood and urine attached to his leg. He was on a nine year waiting list for urology services in the Mayo General Hospital and he will also have to wait 18 months before the consultant in Galway will be able to see him. When one talks to someone like that, one can understand the urgency, the fright and the trauma of what they have to go through. One can understand how badly people feel when they know that €44 billion has been spent in the past ten years. A hard-working man now has to go around like a cripple and feels he is going to die, yet the consultant cannot see him for 18 months. That is what the Tánaiste has to deal with. I will support her in many of the measures she has to implement, as the patient's interest has to be put first. We will not allow a system to be removed from people; we want a health system that is close to them and operates based on their need as distinct from what they have got in their pockets.

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