James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

It would be erroneous of the Minister to place all her emphasis on existing resources instead of discussing additional funding. Has she not placed Professor Keane in an invidious situation? He has just arrived, yet decisions have already been made about where the centres will be located and the number to be established. He will have to unravel those arrangements if he does not agree. People certainly find it bizarre to see nothing north of a line between Galway and Dublin. Will he encounter the same problems as Professor Drumm in terms of trying to reorganise something that is already half-organised? Why will four centres be located in Dublin when only one third of the population reside in the greater Dublin area?

Glib references have been made to transport, which will be a massive issue. Someone dear to me just completed radiotherapy and, even though he did not have to travel far, he was shattered each day. Making somebody travel two or three hours by train and then face the same journey in reverse is not a prospect we can relish with any degree of humanity.

The Minister spoke about the services she closed down. Some services will clearly have to be discontinued but to close them before the new centres are up and running and seen to deliver is not acceptable. This is like Hanly all over again. It is no use to say that we will close the local accident and emergency unit and send patients up the road to Limerick but we will fix up the services in Limerick at some point in the future. The people who need services need them today or next week. We can see what happened subsequent to the closure of Ennis hospital, which required patients to travel to Galway. The following week, the regional hospital in Galway raised the prospect of reducing breast cancer services from five to three days per week because of cutbacks.

The Minister indicated to the House that she would discuss the budget with the Minister for Finance. I hope she will find the additional funds necessary to make this plan successful so that it does not become, like cervical screening, a mere aspiration.

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