James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Notwithstanding the fine print around the €78 million, at a time when we cannot afford vaccines for children, will the Minister outline to the House how she proposes to ensure this does not end up being another fiasco like PPARs? It is extraordinary this issue is only now being dealt with given the Minister has held this portfolio for the past four years.

The HSE report was today leaked on the airwaves. I want to know why it was not laid before this House given it deals with issues that affect every man, woman and child. This is the proper place for that report to be released, not on the national airwaves. I remind the Minister of the failed launch, on three occasions at a cost of €2 million, of the HSE Portal website, which is now merely a myth.

Will the Minister comment on the remarks of her financial comptroller on the 1 o'clock news today that the HSE over-performed last year? How does she propose to sell this to the relatives of Graham Dempsey from Cork, who has been left on a trolley for 30 hours and whose nappy is being changed in public view; to the family of Beverly Seville-Doyle who died in accident and emergency at the Mater Hospital; to the family of 77 year old Peg McEntee who was left for three days on a trolley; to the lady in Cork left on a trolley for 48 hours whose oxygen ran out; or to a patient of mine who as late as last month was left on a trolley for 48 hours?

It beggars belief that we can have statements to this effect. I wonder how the Minister intends to reassure the public given the 400-bed reduction last year, the proposed cut of 600 beds this year, the fact that 750 beds are being blocked by patients needing discharge but who have nowhere to go and the review of eight accident and emergency departments in Dublin with a view to reducing them to four. Today, there are 390 people lying on trolleys at hospitals around the country, which is a disgrace.

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