Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I think the Taoiseach misses the point. The issue raised with him by Deputy Kenny is the extraordinary letter published in the Irish Examiner yesterday from the lone consultant serving 500,000 people in what was formerly the southern health board area. The Taoiseach said that a considerable indent has been made and then goes on to confuse the matter with national figures and so on. According to his letter, Dr. O'Reilly is the only oncologist in the region and is solely responsible for providing cancer care for 500,000 people. Is that true? Where does that leave the 107 consultants the Taoiseach says he has appointed during eight and half years in Government? The Taoiseach makes remarks about people who are paid as much as he is but the IMO is reported in the Irish Examiner this morning as stating that oncology nurses are leaving because of the lack of oncology support services in the former southern health board region. I hope the Taoiseach is not saying nurses are paid the same as he is. Those services are not being provided despite the fact that the Government has been in power for eight and a half years. The consultant in question said this week that a woman at home in pain and dying from cancer cannot be admitted to any of the four hospitals and the only way she can get access to care in a hospital is on a trolley in an accident and emergency department. How is that acceptable in 2005?

A consultant from Northern Ireland appeared on the television news last night to point out that lives have been saved in Northern Ireland because of their superior screening programme. There is no cervical screening in this jurisdiction and BreastCheck has not been rolled out in Counties Cork and Kerry. Hundreds of women in the southern region have attended meetings organised by my colleagues Deputy McManus, Deputy O'Sullivan, Deputy Lynch and Deputy Moynihan-Cronin demanding a service that, as Dr. O'Reilly confirms, is not available. What is the point in talking about billions of euro and appointing consultants when that is the position in the former southern health area?

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