Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I would appreciate a note because the difficulty for people in opposition is that if one asks the Minister for Health and Children about anything, it is referred to the HSE, from which many months later some responses arrive. Sometimes it would be easier to understand ancient calligraphy than to understand the responses of the HSE in any meaningful ordinary sense of the word.

I have an open mind about PPPs. PPPs are not an issue of ideology, they are an issue of cost, service provision, time taken etc. I do not know whether Deputy Bruton recalls, but I attended several presentations and listened intently to the presentation of a significant plan to acquire major investments like linear accelerators for cancer treatment for several locations around the country, including at least two locations in Dublin and one in Limerick. It then emerged through discussion in the media that the HSE was of a different point of view and, if I remember, the net point was that the powers that be in the HSE felt that traditional State procurement methods were cheaper. Possibly that is correct, but the problem is that Deputies cannot get answers from the Minister for Health and Children or, indeed, the HSE. Maybe the Government cannot get answers either because sometimes that is the way it seems to us on the Opposition benches. I would be grateful if the Minister could tell us what happened the idea of providing top-of-the-range technology following studies in places like the Mayo Clinic in the US. I am fully supportive of the acquisition of this technology, however, it then fell into the mists of time and subsequently the Minister for Health and Children stated the timelines for the provision of this technology would be much longer than had been indicated in the original NTMA presentations. I would appreciate if the Minister would enlighten us. It would be helpful to try to understand the ongoing mysteries of the Health Service Executive.

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