Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I wish we were debating a motion because then we could vote on it. Fine Gael Deputies decided that we would no longer have debates such as this, but motions on which we can vote. I am surprised that we are having statements again today because we cannot have a vote when they conclude.

As somebody who comes from a family whose sister died at 45 years of age, and a sister last week had her breast removed, I know all about the cancer services that are available. The services in County Mayo are excellent and there is an excellent team working there. Mayo General Hospital is seeking a managed clinical cancer treatment network to connect with Galway. We have an excellent team of surgeons in Castlebar. However, there was an announcement recently by the hospital manager, although not with the good wishes of the consultants or the people of Mayo, that services would be moved from Mayo General Hospital to Galway. This battle is not over. It is easy for the Minister, Deputy Harney, Deputy O'Rourke and Deputy Chris Andrews to speak when four centres of excellence will be located in Dublin. We will have one in Galway but there will be none in Mayo, Sligo or Donegal, and that is a disgrace.

It is fine for Professor Keane, great man that he is, and everybody says he is, but the same professor is getting €600,000 for a two-year contract. Professor Keane will be like the Minister, he will walk away after two years, whether the system works. He will be like the Minister, saying that he has no responsibility for the HSE. He will have no responsibility for what is left behind him. He has taken away an excellent service from Mayo. Last year, 79 women were operated on. Some 10,000 people came on to the streets of Castlebar to state that they were happy with the service there.

We do not trust the Minister, the HSE or Brendan Drumm because they cannot deliver services. They have made a mess of the HSE. They will make the country's cancer services worse rather than better. People living in Blacksod or Belmullet are 100 miles away from Galway city, which means they must make a 200 mile round trip for an appointment. There are no parking facilities because the hospital is overcrowded.

I will give an example of how they are operating in Galway already. A gentleman wrote to me and to the Connaught Telegraph in Castlebar. The newspaper contacted the HSE and I tabled a parliamentary question. The HSE responded to the Connaught Telegraph but I am still waiting for my reply. It informed a woman that she would have an appointment for oncology services on 23 September 2008, but the problem is that the woman has been dead for 17 years. The HSE went on to say it regretted sending out the appointment letter and blamed a junior member of staff. A senior member of staff should have taken responsibility for that, however. It is outrageous that the HSE does not have its records up to date. It is also outrageous that the HSE expects people in Mayo and Sligo to have confidence in that hospital. How can one have confidence in a hospital that gave an appointment to a woman who has been dead for 17 years? I have no confidence in that hospital.

I oppose the withdrawal of services from Mayo General Hospital, which we are happy with and want to keep. That battle is not over yet. Deputies Beverley Flynn and Dara Calleary, as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Devins, and other Government Deputies will soon have an opportunity to vote in this House on cancer services for the north west. I am sick and tired of such people speaking out of both sides of their mouths. In Mayo they are all for it, while in Dublin they are all for the Minister, but they will have to make a decision here shortly. When we put that motion on the floor of the House we will see if they vote for the people of Donegal, Sligo and Mayo, but they will not be speaking out of both sides of their mouths. We will bring the women from Sligo and Mayo to the Visitors Gallery to show them what these politicians are made of.

We are proud of our cancer services in Mayo, including the team of consultants there. The women of the county want them so why should a service be taken away, at least until the service in Galway is up and running? People should be allowed to decide for themselves.

Recently, I came across the case of a woman who went into a private hospital to have her breast removed. She has private health insurance. She should have been receiving chemotherapy for the past five weeks but is not fit to because she got an infection in that hospital. That is the kind of health service we have in this country, yet we are told there have never been as many financial resources as at present. We are told that this is the way forward, but is that not what the Minister told us about the HSE? She said there were too many health boards with too many people on them and they were not working. She said the HSE would be the answer to everything but it has destroyed the health service. We have never had so many problems and nobody is taking responsibility for anything. In the past two or three years, we have been paying more money for consultants and less money for doctors, nurses and attendants. Something is wrong. Ireland is only a small country with a population of 4.5 million. There are as many people in Manchester, yet their health services are able to cope while ours cannot. What has gone wrong with the health service here?

Yesterday, a man in Mayo General Hospital was waiting to be called today for a bed in Galway, but no such bed is available. A young man in Erris with a serious head problem has been waiting four weeks for a bed in Beaumont Hospital. His mother and sister contact me every day looking for the best service for their loved one, but it is not forthcoming. What is going wrong?

The Government talks about decentralisation to bring services from Dublin to the regions, but the opposite is being done with the health service. Services are being transferred from rural areas to the cities. That is not acceptable and something must be done about it. I plead with the Minister to leave the services we have in Mayo General Hospital, including the excellent staff, Kevin Barry, Mary Casey and Ronan Waldron. These are excellent consultants and surgeons. I will support the Minister if she wishes to set up centres of excellence. The women of Mayo, Sligo and Galway will make a decision and go to the best places. I plead with the Minister to leave the services in place for the women of Mayo and to have a satellite service between Mayo and Galway. The Minister should not take away a service that is working from a county that needs it. Ours is a rural, disadvantaged area and circumstances are very difficult for people living there.

People in my constituency cannot get hospital appointments because the HSE has no funding to bring them to the hospital. People will die because they cannot get to appointments and the Minister wants to remove services from Mayo. It is not right and it should not happen. The services are working but what the Minister tried with the HSE is not working. I say to Professor Keane that he is entitled to his €600,000 but he is not doing any favours to the women of Mayo.

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