Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I am coming to it. The Ceann Comhairle will see how healthy it is in a minute. The three senior managers of Aer Lingus resigned because they had no confidence in the Government.

Compare this matter to a recent incident that affects our health service. A senior, top-ranking international specialist in the health services, who was originally an Irish specialist, indicated that he would come on board to head the new Health Service Executive. He was interviewed by a couple of people and he interviewed a couple of people himself but all of a sudden he stated that, for family reasons or otherwise, he would no longer come on board. He did not come on board because he had no confidence in what was being proposed by the Government. It is quite clear that he did not want his reputation tarnished by what was happening.

The Ceann Comhairle stated the two aforementioned issues are not related to health. They are intrinsically related to it and will be proven to be part and parcel of the unhealthy attitude that exists towards the administration of services on the part of this House and the Executive in recent years. The lack of accountability and lack of recognition of patients' needs in the health service are serious. The production of reports to deflect public attention from the real issues is also a serious matter.

I, like many other Members of the House, was a member of a health board for a number of years, during which period there were three programme managers and a chief executive catering for one third of the population. One was able to ring the chief executive or any of the programme managers at any time one wished and they or their secretaries would deal with the issue speedily. Now, however, the numbers of these officials have been multiplied by at least 20 in each case, the result being that the system is almost like a hospital in which one is lucky to get a trolley, never mind a bed. One cannot get anybody to respond to one's queries for about three or four months. The problem lies in the administration of the health services, which is the responsibility of Government.

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