Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I previously served as Minister for Health and Children and am aware it can be the case that when a capital project — for which there have been many calls and in respect of which everyone is agreed — is proceeded with, industrial relations issues begin to arise on the current side in terms of staffing levels etc. People seek leverage and this can cause problems in respect of attempts to open a facility. This happened in my constituency on one occasion during an election campaign. When else would it happen? It did not have the desired result for some of those involved, however, because Fine Gael, not Fianna Fáil, lost a seat.

One may be providing much better facilities, both in terms of work and care environments — I refer here, in particular, to geriatric and other care environments — and one may discover that further negotiations need to be undertaken because those facilities have been improved.

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