Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to express my support for this amendment. I would like the Department rather than an outside consultancy firm to carry out a cost-benefit analysis on the budget in particular. The Commission on Taxation reported that 250 of these tax reliefs should be abolished and while I am aware this is in the pipeline in respect of some of them, we have long known about the abuse of, for example, section 23 provisions and the gross oversupply of hotels.

The growth of private hospitals is undermining the health services. The Taoiseach has stated that he would spend whatever was necessary to bail out the banks. One might say fair enough but what is wrong with bailing out people of poor health? What is wrong with improving our health systems, which over the past 25 years have gone downhill rapidly? The health service we had 25 years ago was better than the current one. The concept of making the taxpayer fund 100% of the construction costs of a private hospital over a seven-year period is bizarre in the extreme. I would welcome a cost-benefit analysis of this policy as compared to the provision of proper public health services.

Setting the banks to one side for the moment, surely people should be able to get proper medical attention regardless of whether they are rich or very poor. Why are public hospitals not being supported? Why are the banks able to write their own cheques at a time when hospitals are on their knees and in some cases have experienced cuts of as much as €30 million? For these reasons I support Deputy Burton's amendment and I look forward to the Minister's reply.

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