Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I will mention the hospital shortly. If the Minister prefers, I can talk about my wishes for my local hospital, but she knows all those so I do not need to do so.

With regard to the motion, it is good that we have the opportunity to discuss these issues. We traditionally compliment parties in this regard although this motion is more politically motivated than most. It is not for me to tell Fine Gael how to look after its Private Members' business but it does not seem able to count and it certainly does not seem to understand the result of the last election. When I spoke in April last, Deputy Enda Kenny took the view that after the election he would be on this side of the House and I would be home in Tallaght tending my garden, but he is still on the other side of the House and I am back here. The people have made their decision.

In this debate we hear all kinds of views as to what the people decided. The people returned many colleagues and if one considers the result in Dublin South-West, one has to interpret what the people were thinking, and two Fianna Fáil Deputies from that constituency are still in the House.

In July 2005 the Minster announced an initiative to have co-located private hospitals built on the campuses of public hospitals. The aim of that initiative is to enable up to 1,000 beds in public hospitals which are currently used by private patients to be redesignated for use by public patients. Co-location is already a feature on a number of public hospital campuses, such as the Mater and St. Vincent's.

There has been much talk of Tallaght in the past couple of days. I am always happy to mention Tallaght but I am on comfortable ground today as a number of colleagues have already done so. I do not usually pay much attention to what newspapers tell me, but The Irish Mail on Sunday recently stated "Hospital reform is a healthy move". It stated that the decision on Saturday:

... by the board of Tallaght Hospital to embrace Health Minister Mary Harney's co-location policy is both a welcome and a courageous one. There can be no doubt that Tallaght's previously expressed reservations about the policy, founded as they were on the ethos of the old city-centre voluntary hospitals, were sincere and deeply held. But times change.

The article continued:

... over many years, the famous city-centre hospitals which merged to form Tallaght, the Adelaide and the Meath, had no difficulty in providing, on the same site, private treatment for their wealthier patients, and free treatment for others, including the poorest of the city poor.

I will continue through this Dáil term to regularly raise issues relating to the health services and Tallaght Hospital. The Minister will get different views from across the House but there is positive as well as negative reaction in Tallaght. It is very important that we understand that there is much to be done in Tallaght, and I support that.

I take the opportunity to remind the Minister that it is the aspiration of Tallaght Hospital to develop a landmark building on the current site. I understand the building will include vitally necessary administrative space and crucially required outpatient clinic services. With other issues, I hope we will continue to have the Minister's support for Tallaght Hospital.

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