Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I apologise; it was on Tuesday night, on the Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill 2006.

The establishment of 100 primary care teams was announced in last year's budget, and this year the Government has trawled through the matter and announced it again. The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has announced that she will set up an extra 100 teams. To the best of my knowledge, the first 100 primary care teams announced in last year's budget have not yet been set up. In my constituency, I could expect three such teams, but there is none.

The Government made announcements in last year's budget that were not implemented in 2006 and makes exactly the same announcements for 2007. It has lost credibility when it comes to delivering on its promises. Not only has it not delivered on promises from five years ago; it has not even delivered on the contents of last year's budget. Some 300 additional front-line staff were to be appointed in the area of primary care in 2006 but some of those jobs will not be advertised until February 2007. A full year has gone by and the Government cannot even deliver front-line staff to the areas under greatest pressure in the health service. Last year's budget included the provision of €80 million for IT projects in the health service. These were small projects mainly dealing with value for money issues and patient care. None of them has been delivered. This is typical of the type of service we receive.

At last week's meeting of the Joint Committee on Health and Children, Health Service Executive officials admitted that even though the executive was established two years ago under the Health Act 2004, the complaints procedure has still not been approved by the Minister. The Government is spending more than €10 billion per year on the health service but the reform programme is not working. It is unacceptable that the Government is walking away from its commitment to public health services. Health reforms are failing, the HSE is in crisis and the Government is too tired or incompetent to take on board the important job that must be done to reform the public health care system.

The Minister's announcements regarding care of the elderly suggest the Government is trying to find solutions to short-term problems in the private sector. The Minister for Health and Children's collocation plans, whereby private hospitals will be built on the grounds of public hospitals, seem to have been devised on the back of a beer mat. It is clear that even some of those investors who were initially interested in such projects are withdrawing at a dramatic rate because they know this type of arrangement will not work.

The comments of the Minister, Deputy Harney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, during Question Time on Tuesday show they have no idea of the impact this policy will have on patients, particularly those with private health insurance. It is clear the entire process is beginning to unravel. This is typical of the approach taken by the Government. The economy is strong and has been so for more than a decade but the Government is proceeding blindly without considering potential difficulties that may cause problems in two or three years' time. It has failed dramatically to implement the most basic promises it made before the last general election. It cannot even deliver the commitments it made in last year's budget. The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs should, rather than shouting at the Opposition, acknowledge that the Government is failing the public.

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