Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am pleased to speak on the health service plan for 2012. I have the summary of the plan, I would not like to have to read the full document as I do not know how many pages it would contain.

Having listened to the last speaker, I accept the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, and her colleagues are genuine about this issue, as is everybody in the House. The problem I have with the Minister is that he is caught on the hook again. He told us all he was going to disband the HSE and that it would be no more. Speaking for myself, I was here for four years putting down questions to the former Minister for Health and Children, Ms Harney. I wrote to the Taoiseach of the time when Ms Harney disbanded her party to have her replaced with a Minister from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in order to get answers on different issues. We were putting down questions to the Minister for Health and Children and they were all being fudged. The only response was, "Thank you for your question. This is not a matter for the Minister. It is for the HSE".

I believed the Minister, Deputy Reilly, when he said it was going to stop, but it has not stopped. He tried to stop it for a short time but it is back again now. I can put down a question to the Minister for Health about serious issues, whether it be medical cards or many other issues of local or national importance, yet it is the HSE to which I am directed. The HSE has to be dismantled or fundamentally changed.

There are too many people in the HSE. There are many good people who do a lot of hard, honest work, particularly in front line services. However, the front line services are being attacked and eroded. What has happened? We have the pen pushers making these reports. They are growing and growing - it is their careers they are growing in many cases. We have layers upon layers. We saw what happened when the health boards were disbanded. All the staff were taken in, with no loss of jobs except in the front line. It is top heavy with officials.

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