Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

In her speech, the Minister, Deputy Harney, called for a bipartisan approach to the issue of cancer care. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, called for consensus. The Minister, Deputy Cowen, called for more debate. I do not disagree with any of that. When the legislation that established the Health Service Executive was being debated in this House in 2004, Deputies on this side of the House tried to argue that the HSE would not work, that it would be an over-bureaucratic monstrosity and that patients would ultimately suffer.

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