Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Minister of State probably shares my concerns. The Minister alluded to Dean Swift's involvement in establishing a hospital. It was a private hospital under a charitable structure which reflected the fact that he was a Protestant clergyman. Like the Rotunda Hospital, a number of voluntary hospitals and the religious hospitals founded from the 19th century onwards by various Catholic religious orders, the hospital established by Dean Swift was a private institution formed for the public good. It is important to clarify that point.

The tax breaks for investors will benefit prominent individuals such as Mr. Goodman who has considerable expertise as a trader in cattle and beef on international markets. Mr. Goodman has amassed a large fortune and is a great businessman. Hospital care requires an ethical framework and its purpose must be to provide the highest possible standard of long-term public care for the maximum number of people. The tax breaks apply to buildings; they do not relate to care but to investment in the built structure. The buildings must be retained for up to 15 years. After a long debate with the Minister for Finance, he extended to 15 years the period that the institution, old person's home, sports injury clinic or hospital must stay as a caring institution. All the international evidence, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the studies carried out in the United States, show that the quality and outcomes of care in an institution, whether publicly or privately owned, which has a basic framework of providing for the public good, are of a far higher order than in an institution or hospital which has been developed simply and solely to take advantage of tax breaks for buildings.

Blanchardstown Hospital has had a great tradition of care since it was founded in the 1950s. Given the extraordinary population of the area it is amazing that the hospital has no dedicated tertiary facilities for children. Blanchardstown has a huge and growing population which requires services such as visiting consultants and so forth. This could be done through public provision and not only through a private hospital.

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