Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Deputy Kenny is a man who aspires to be Taoiseach, leading the Government and the country. In his speech he referred to the need for courage and clarity, so I am entitled to make these points. The Labour Party said the cancer control plan could not be implemented because we did not have millions of euro to invest in it. Professor Tom Keane showed that by redirecting resources, not by additionality to any great extent, one can deliver change.

In 2007, this House introduced legislation to provide for something as simple as a lay majority in charge of the medical profession, but that too was opposed by the Opposition. Even the doctors, who were worried about a lay majority, have told me in recent times that it was one of the best decisions made because of the quality of the lay majority on the Medical Council.

The Fair Deal providing equity of care for older people, whether in private residential care or public nursing homes, was equally opposed. I could go on forever about this, but the reality is that we will not change the health service unless we make difficult and unpopular decisions. Is somebody trying to suggest that 20 years ago in Ireland there were no misdiagnoses, no unread X-rays and no unopened letters? Even in the best health systems in the world, radiological errors amount to about 2%, as Deputy Reilly will acknowledge. The fact is that we are discovering these things today and we are doing something about it. That is the difference between the situation in which we find ourselves today and where we were a number of years ago.

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