Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Will the Chair tell me when my time is up as I would not like to hold anyone else back? It is easy to speak about how the Government has run down health services in this country. The Government has washed its hands of the middle class in Ireland. Last week people who receive child benefit had their benefits cut and then the universal social charge, which also targets the middle class, took effect and now the same people are hit by a rise in VHI charges.

I must speak out tonight on this and must point out that the Minister of Health, who is not here tonight, should not have been Minister for Health over the past three or four years, because she has no mandate from the people. She has lost control of the Department and of what is going on. The whole of the VHI board should resign. How dare that board think the people can afford an increase of 45% in charges when the board has mismanaged the company with the help of the Government. We need new people running the Department and the VHI. We have a man here who can and will be Minister for Health and who will reform our health services.

This morning I got a phone call about a woman with cancer who went to the regional hospital in Galway in November for a biopsy, but was told she could not have her biopsy. She got another appointment for this morning, but got a phone call this morning to say the procedure could not be done because of swine flu. There was no swine flu in November. This poor woman is frightened out of her life waiting for her biopsy. Is that kind of health service fair to the people, the sick and the poor? Is it fair to people worried about their condition? The Minister has lost control. The situation here and the number of people on trolleys all over the country is shameful. The Minister told us she was going to reform the health service, but she was only good at one thing. She was good at spinning and she was able to spin to the media, who fell for her spin. She talked a good game, but she was not much good at playing the game. The health service here is in disarray and people are upset and annoyed at that. The people are waiting in the long grass. All they want is fairness, but it is not available.

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