Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I wish to share my time with Deputy Murphy and Deputy Cuffe.

Listening to the previous speaker, one would think that the Government was trying to deliver on some of the issues. We were promised 200,000 medical cards, 2,000 gardaí and social housing, which has gone by the wayside. What is the farce this evening all about? I understood the Estimates were about allocating sufficient funding to provide essential services for a host of issues such as health, housing, foreign aid, infrastructure and so on. Is this happening? If essential services are what the Estimates are about — the budget will be delivered in a few days' time — why are people in the Dundalk area fund-raising to buy essential equipment, such as a CT scanner, for their local hospital? Even though these people are already compliant taxpayers and have met all their obligations, they must raise money to pay for essential equipment.

What is the economic sense in hundreds of people being transferred annually between Dundalk hospital and Drogheda hospital at a cost of between €800 to €1,000 a time? We hear about the provision of essential services but there is no sign of them. The people who require a CT scanner are seriously ill. A broken arm or a broken leg is serious, but an ordinary straightforward X-ray will suffice in these cases. It is only people who are very ill who need the facility of a CT scanner, but these people are being transferred at huge cost. Some patients are so ill that they cannot be transported. They must lie on their hospital bed or trolley in the corridor hoping they will become sufficiently strong to be transported to the excellent hospital in Drogheda to avail of a CT scanner. Is this what Members mean when they say the Opposition is jealous of the excellent services the Government is providing? They can try to convince the Opposition, but the public have copped on to the Government and it will get the message sooner rather than later. The provision of essential services is not happening. The Tánaiste is telling us that the health budget is increasing by X amount, but we have not heard by how much. However, the public will be the final arbitrators in the matter.

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