Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

It is alarming to hear the Health Bill is to be guillotined. The late sitting notwithstanding, this decision must be reversed. The Bill, apart from being brought quite suddenly to our attention for debate with limited time to prepare, is an issue which reaches far beyond the Minister for Health and Children. It relates to the way the Government has forced an economic policy which has disimproved the health of the people of the country. God help those who need hospital attention on the back of that. There is a need to address the Government's responsibility for so much of the deteriorating health of the country and the way that deterioration is compounded by the Government's failure to provide the facilities to address the health problems when they arise. The debate will not be given the breadth and length it needs. The Government is trying to close down the debate because it would be damning for it to hear the facts of this matter. Recent research shows ever more clearly how the Government has disimproved the health of the country. This matter needs further debate and action.

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