Jim McDaid (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

While I am fully aware of these difficult economic times for our country, and how impossible it is to explain to our people that we can no longer afford services which we previously took for granted, the withdrawal of a life-saving vaccine is not a measure I can support. We have only to examine the history of vaccinations and see how successful they have been. We have practically eradicated smallpox, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and, to a large extent, tuberculosis. In the future, the world will rejoice the day a vaccine for AIDS is produced.

In our time, we have found a vaccine against a cancer which afflicts 200 of our women every year and which is responsible for the deaths of 70 to 80 of these women on an annual basis. The vaccine has the unanimous support of the world's foremost institutions, including the world centre for disease control. The renowned New England Journal of Medicine advocated it should be given to all female children between the ages of ten and 12, and possibly to those aged up to and including 15 years, depending on the morals and policies of individual nations. The journal also stated it is the greatest scientific advance that any Government can do for its people today. It would protect 70% of the girls from developing cancer and with the welcome introduction of the screening introduced by the Minister, in our generation we could go a long way to reducing the numbers to insignificance in the future.

However, on purely economic grounds — the New England Journal of Medicine contradicts the Minister on this point — the Minister has decided to drop its introduction for the foreseeable future. The sunset period on its effectiveness is why I state that in so doing we will pass a death sentence on a certain percentage of the 12 year old girls whose parents cannot afford the cost of it. Is there anyone in this House who would not give the vaccine to their daughters today?

I have been a friend of the Minister for 20 years and five different Fianna Fáil Taoisigh have recognised her commitment, capabilities and contribution to Irish society over a long period in political life. Yes, these are extraordinary times but I cannot see the logic of her decision, not even on economic terms. We have a responsibility to look after the health of our people and I have admired the Minister on many occasions in this regard. We have a responsibility in particular to look after the future health of our children.

Fifty years from now, it will not be important what my bank account was, what type or car I drove or what size of house I lived in. It does matter to me that during my stay in this House I may have been, just may have been, important in the life of a child. Accordingly, I cannot vote for the Government's motion this evening. I fully realise the implications of this but I trust that my colleagues understand that while I will abstain I will not vote per se against them. I cannot vote against an oath I took 34 years ago.

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