Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

It was funded by the Irish people. Fianna Fáil should not fool itself into thinking it did it. The economy was built on the backs of Irish people.

The Government must identify weaknesses in services and improve them. It must protect patients by whatever means necessary. Our favoured means, the way forward, is a patient safety authority rather than a commission to examine the issue. Deputy Martin puts everything off for four years, and Deputy Harney has also come down with a dose of "Micheál-itis". It is the Minister's job to look into the matter.

We know the health services work fairly well if one has access to them owing to the dedication of those who work in them. However, the Minister of State's job, like that of all those in the Government, is not to squeal from the fifth floor of this building about what he would love to see done. He must instead locate those problems and address them. He must not play politics, in this case with nurses but every day with patients' lives. That is what is so despicable about current events and what he is supposed to change.

We have formulated policies on mental health and screening programmes and decided that we need more beds. I cannot understand the Government's problem with that contention. Our hospitals are working at 100% occupancy all the time. The Minister, Deputy Harney, attended the House last night. There was a clear problem, since she stated that Ireland's bed occupancy exceeded 100%. However, the average length of stay here, according to the OECD, is among the shortest.

The Minister stated the average length of stay to be one of the longest.

Deputy Kenny raised the issue of BreastCheck and the Taoiseach tried to rubbish his statements about the ten dedicated beds for breast cancer patients in the Mater Hospital. The BreastCheck programme is supposed to identify people with breast cancer who are then supposed to be treated. There is not much point diagnosing breast cancer unless there is an ability to treat it. The Taoiseach's mumbling, fumbling and warbling on about something he does not understand just shows how disconnected the Government is with what is happening on the ground.

See this speech in context