Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

There is then the gold standard of Government policy on health services, the health strategy, Quality and Fairness: A Health System for You. If ever a policy has not been implemented, it is that one. In some respects, the Minister of State suffers from a worse crisis than that of which he accused the Opposition. He has more than enough policies but he just cannot appear to implement any of them, certainly as far as the health services are concerned.

One of the objectives of the health strategy, Quality and Fairness: A Health Service for You, published in November 2001, was a policy for funding care of the elderly into the future. Ministers come into this House and tell us how concerned they are about care of the elderly but where is the policy that will show how this Government, if it remains in power after the next election, will fund care of the elderly into the future? It has not been published because there is none available.

I take exception to some of the figures both Ministers of State quoted in their contributions tonight. The document given to us by the Government states that there are 900 extra beds in the health service compared to the 2001 figure. That is not the case. The Minister of State came close to the truth in his contribution. He said there was an extra 800 beds and another 94 pending.

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