Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The facilities of the sexual assault treatment unit there were available, but there was no doctor. We are spending €14 billion on the health service. The facts relating to what happened are disputed. I am not responsible for rostering doctors, as I said. Given that the unit was on call, it should have been operational. The resources which are needed are provided in a number of units. What happened was not acceptable. The women in question should not have been treated in such a manner. Regardless of the various arguments — I have heard reports from both sides — it should not have happened. That is the point. It should not happen on any other weekend.

We also need to consider a second issue. There are four sexual assault treatment units, in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Letterkenny. A request has been made for the provision of a further unit in Galway. The national reporting rate is nine per 100,000. I understand there is not a difficulty. In the west and north-west regions, the rates are 3.6 and 4.4 respectively and I am told that is well-catered for. There is a difficulty in Galway, where a new unit is being sought. It is obvious that there are issues relating to the administration of the unit in the Rotunda Hospital. The Minister for Finance is dealing with the request for additional resources. It may already have been dealt with in the Estimates for 2007, so the service can be extended throughout the country. Under the criteria which were set out, which were based on the sexual assault reporting rate per 100,000 people, the victims of sexual assault should be treated within three hours. That is what was set down and agreed. I understand that the request, with which I agree, will be delivered on in 2007.

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