Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I was interested in the comments of Deputy Carey, whose constituency borders mine, on the selection of the Mater Hospital site for the new national children's hospital. It is ironic that the Government was able to spend tens of millions of euro on hundreds of acres of prime farmland at Thornton Hall for a new prison but could not acquire a site for a maternity or children's hospital. Perhaps it should consider investing similar amounts in our children and on prisons. I do not know if any member of this Government, which is characterised by a lack of joined up thinking, ever considered that Thornton Hall, with its access to the M50, might be worthy of consideration as a site for the provision of children's and maternity services.

Yesterday the Government, in the style of the Soviet republics of old, launched a great leap forward with its next six-year national development plan. People find it hard to comprehend expenditure of €184 billion because such large numbers tend to swim around in one's head. In Stalinist Russia the authorities showed pictures of comely maidens on tractors and wheat fields before harvesting to help people understand progress.

A sum of €2 million may be a drop in the ocean to the Government but it is a great deal of money to ordinary people. Since the Government parties took power ten years ago my local hospital, Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, has been promised an MRI scanner and other high level radiological equipment. The total cost would be less than €2 million, with an MRI scanner probably costing less than €1 million. Connolly Hospital serves the population of Blanchardstown and surrounding areas, extending as far as Finglas, Dunboyne and other parts of County Meath, but is the only major Dublin teaching hospital without an MRI scanner and up-to-date radiological services.

Unfortunately, west Dublin experiences high levels of crime and violence. With peace thankfully taking hold in the North, Connolly Hospital has replaced the Royal Victoria Hospital and other hospitals as the national hospital specialising in gunshot wounds. If a person requires a scan for either trauma or orthopaedic purposes, to cite only two examples, he or she must travel by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital or the Mater Hospital, both of which are roughly five miles away. However, because the routes of both journeys take in some of the most horrendous traffic conditions in Dublin city and region — in both cases the ambulance must cross the M50 roundabout — the return journey times would probably be roughly two hours in low traffic volumes and four hours in high traffic volumes.

The legislation provides for the introduction of inspection services. Where is the economic justification for denying the fifth largest teaching hospital in the country a basic, functioning MRI radiology scanning system, particularly given that it specialises in trauma owing to the large number of patients admitted with gunshot wounds as a result of the gang wars we are enduring under this Government? What is €184 billion when, over a ten-year period, the Government cannot find €2 million?

Some time ago, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, stated that the €155 million spent on the PPARS system was a drop in the ocean which would not be noticed. People in Blanchardstown notice that only €2 million of the money wasted on the system could have bought an MRI scanner for their hospital. The national development plan promises much. It can only be broken down into meaningful component parts when one asks why hard-working people who pay taxes to the State at the 42% rate cannot secure basic facilities in a leading teaching hospital in Dublin.

Why is Connolly Hospital being left out in the cold? The upgrade of vital radiological equipment was confidently promised eight or nine years ago when phase one of the reconstruction of the hospital was promised by the Government. Despite the money having been allocated and put in the kitty by the rainbow Government, the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition has not found its feet on this matter. The only reason I can find for the failure to fulfil the promise to provide the equipment as part of phase 2 of the new hospital is the Minister's recent directive that a private hospital be constructed on the grounds of Blanchardstown public hospital. It seems essential improvements for public patients will be long-fingered indefinitely whereas the private hospital initiative is under active consideration.

Irrespective of whether a private hospital is built in Blanchardstown, a matter on which I have given my view, the public hospital requires radiology equipment immediately. It is unbelievable that one of our largest new towns, with a population in excess of that of Waterford or Limerick, should be left without essential modern equipment such as an MRI scanner. Why should Connolly Hospital be left behind?

While I welcome the establishment of an independent inspectorate, it is important to recall that the Leas Cross scandal occurred at a time when the prototype inspectorate was in place. What is the connection between the rush by beef barons and others to become nursing home owners and the long-term provision of care for those who may be frail and require full-time nursing home care in their later years? The answer lies in the availability of tax breaks. Those who build private nursing homes benefit from highly lucrative tax breaks without being required to commit to providing long-term care. The initial round of tax breaks for nursing homes required a commitment of only seven years. After long debates the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, finally conceded my point and extended the period to approximately 15 years.

The accounts of Leas Cross show the company made a pre-tax profit of €619,000 on a turnover of slightly more than €4 million in 2005. Bearing in mind the likelihood that little or no tax will have been liable on this sum due to tax breaks, the figures constitute a return of roughly 16%. This is an extraordinarily high rate of return on a long-term investment such as that required to operate a care facility. These figures alone should have raised questions.

I will refer briefly to the good and bad points of inspectorates. The Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention, Mr. Justice Kinlen, is in charge of inspecting the prison regime. The poor man produces report after report but the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, and senior officials in his Department raise two fingers to them. The reason is that while Mr. Justice Kinlen is a fiercely independent rapporteur on conditions in prisons, his position lacks independence. His position is not comparable with that of Nuala O'Loan. Although he can speak without fear or favour, he is not listened to by the powers that be in the Department.

We want an independent, fearless and balanced inspectorate. We do not want a rush to judgment; we want a structured and measured inspectorate that will be fearless and independent in carrying out its job. We want a representative inspectorate that will not look after the primary interests of people getting tax breaks, but the interests of little people.

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