Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Collins can have a minute of my time. I thank Deputy Kelleher for tabling this motion before the House and giving us an opportunity to speak on a very important and emotive debate. It affects each of us in our constituencies and it is a very emotive subject for the people we represent.

Everybody knows the best and cheapest way to run a health service is to have an effective and efficient acute hospital system that will treat patients in an effective and efficient manner, get them home and arrange home care packages to help them. None the less, we have seen plans for a 4.5% reduction in the provision of home help. This is a very retrograde step. I know from having looked after an elderly neighbour in recent years that home help managed to keep this lady out of long-term residential care for 18 months. Without that home help she would not have been able to stay out of care. That home help had a net benefit, both to her from a social point of view in that she was able to stay longer in her home setting where she had lived for 82 years, and also as a cost benefit to the taxpayer because the lady had no means. Her long-term residential care is now being met in full by the Exchequer. The Minister should consider that.

I wish to highlight the position at Mullingar regional hospital. Last year, yet again, it was the most efficient hospital outside Dublin. Now it is taking in additional patients from Roscommon hospital, which was downgraded in spite of the Minister's pledges, and from Navan. Even though the hospital has taken in these additional patients, it has not received any additional funding. Last year it took €60 million to run the hospital but this year's budget will be €56.4 million, to include an overrun of €1.9 million. What happened to the notion of funding following the patient? It is not happening in one of the most efficient hospitals in the country.

The Minister talks about the difference-----

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