Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Kenny will recall that some of his predecessors — admittedly not him at the time — and Members from my side pressed for the establishment of a unified health system. When the health strategy went through the House in 2001, there was unanimous agreement that the old health board system set up in the early 1970s under the Health Act was not adequate to deal with the diverse demands of primary care and community health services or to control 53 acute hospitals with 13,000 beds.

The health board system had wide ranges of grades for personnel and different working practices.

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