Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I was a member of what is now deemed an old-fashioned system, the old health boards. Old-fashioned as the system was, as members we could hold both the consultants and the administrators to account, and the people could come directly to us, as public representatives, and tell us their concerns. In came a new broom, deciding to get rid of these old tired administrations and put in place a new executive and a new model. The only aspect removed from the old health board system was the democratic voice. The then chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board still works in the HSE, I believe as an information technology manager. The only aspect missing is the voice of the people. That, to me, was ideological. I do not have a difficulty with ideology — I myself hold one — but that was the ideology of the right. The Minister takes a health service and decides to put it at arm's length, then it goes beyond her grasp and, ultimately, out of her control.

There is no one who can tell the story of what happened to these women better than themselves and we listen to them day on day on the television. First, there is the awful dread of going to the clinic because the doctor suggests it or because one has found something. Some get the relief of being told everything is fine, but all of a sudden they are plunged back in again. I do not believe they will ever recover confidence. There will always be that nagging doubt. Was the first test correct, was the second test correct or will there be another test? That is really the position in which we find ourselves. Once a matter is out of one's control it is difficult to get it back.

It was not just cancer services for women that prompted the tabling of this motion, even though that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I want to read to the House a letter I received which I read only on Sunday night. Despite the late hour, I rang the man concerned because I was so horrified by what I read. I will skip over most of the detail because I do not want to identify anyone. It states:

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about 18/19 years ago. My consultant neurologist is . . . (CUH) [in Cork].

My most recent appointment with . . . [my consultant] was on 1st August 2007 at which time it was decided to change my medication . . . [The medication I was on was] . . . self-administered whilst . . . [this new medication would have to be] administered in the Day Procedures Ward (DPW) at CUH on a monthly cycle. I was informed that it would necessitate foregoing all other treatments for a period of 8 to 10 weeks before commencing the new treatment. I was prepared to go without medication for the stated period.

For the last number of years I have been self injecting every second day and the progression of the disease has been slowish. I am hopeful that the administration of . . . [the new treatment] will slow it even more.

I expected to start the . . . [new] regime in late September or early October. It didn't happen. I asked when the treatment was scheduled to start and I was told that a backlog had developed and no schedule was yet forthcoming. This was further exacerbated by the fact that the Day Procedures Ward was closed for the school's mid-term break. Why a busy hospital ward should close to coincide with school holidays is beyond me.

Other treatments require administration on a regular basis, be they weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

It seems it is now this man's fate that his new treatment will not start until the end of January. At that stage he will be 26 weeks without treatment, all because they cannot get the day procedures ward to open. That ward will close again entirely for two weeks at Christmas to coincide with holidays. All he asks is. . . . . .

. . . a fair chance to maintain a reasonable quality of life, to maintain my independence, to continue working productively and not be a burden on my family or the state. The 'fear factor' is taking hold of my life; every stumble or fall, every pain or ache and every time I don't feel quite right bring doubts rushing into my mind as to whether this progressive disease is progressing and no one is helping me to stop it.

There are two responsibilities in this area. One is political and the other is in respect of people earning large salaries to deliver a service to the people, but no one is living up to these responsibilities.

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