John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I said this afternoon that the strategy for primary care would help to alleviate much of the problem at accident and emergency units. The Tánaiste replied that there was under-investment in primary care strategy, a strategy which I welcome and which could deal with 90% of illnesses. Why was the last meeting of the steering group on primary care cancelled? I believe it was because the membership realise the investment will not happen. We know that prevention is the best way to deal with illness. One in two people are overweight, one in eight are obese and 90% of people with type two diabetes are obese, yet the response of the Government is to endorse the health and nutrition foundation. This foundation is sponsored by people like Coca Cola and McDonalds. It reads like a "who's who" of obesity-friendly companies. Surely this should tell the Tánaiste something about the lack of joined-up thinking and consistency in the Government. It makes no sense to me, yet it appears that the Tánaiste will accede to the request of IBEC and endorse this particular foundation.

The problem in our accident and emergency units is a capacity one. We have 25% growth in our population and 25% fewer beds. It is obvious that there is a major capacity problem and the Government has failed to deliver on the 3,000 beds it promised. Instead the Tánaiste seeks to scapegoat nurses. In her speech to the Irish Nurses Organisation she spoke about flexibility. If one reads between the lines, what she is saying is very clear. She is saying that either they do what the Government and the Health Service Executive says or else there will be no pay increase. I support the claims of the nurses. These are the people at the front line, who work their guts out in terrible conditions, surrounded, as we have heard, by drunks and people on drugs. Their place of work is like a war zone, as I said to the Minister for Health and Children on one occasion. In spite of this, she is trying to force nurses to accept a pay deal. This is very regrettable. The Green Party supports the nurses unequivocally. They do Trojan work. I hope there will be a resolution to the dispute but if there is none by 9 p.m., we will certainly continue to support the nurses' cause.

We have a cultural problem in regard to alcohol in that we do not regard it as a drug. Drinking is our very worst drug problem and is worse than the abuse of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis. Why, therefore, have we not implemented the range of recommendations of the task force on alcohol abuse? These have been put to one side. We do not implement them because the drinks companies are enormously powerful and wield considerable influence. Drinks companies should not sponsor sports events. There is a proliferation of pubs and we are doing nothing to tackle the drink problem at source. Drunks should not end up in accident and emergency units. This does not happen in other cultures. Consider the Italian experience in this regard. Why do we not tackle the drink problem at source?

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