Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Coonan now has Nenagh hospital to deal with and I note he made some important commitments in that regard. However, Fine Gael and the Labour Party were trying to outwit each other and on a daily basis, the ladder was not high enough for them to climb onto to wave the next slogan, regardless of what it did to undermine the good people who work in the health service. They simply could not resist the temptation to undermine what was and is a good service with problems and issues that must be resolved. However, they fanned that flame on a daily basis. They tried to hoodwink people and attempted to capitalise on people's genuine fears. In the case of many elderly people, people with sick children or people with a compromised immune system, their biggest worry is whether a bed will be available on the day on which they need it. In the Minister's case, he perceived that strain, exploited that weakness and captured a considerable amount of support on the back of it. It is right that the Minister now be made to answer for that in this House in an open and clear fashion. I do not like throwing political stuff over and back the floor of the Chamber. I want to stand up for the patients and people I represent. The Minister should explain to them how things have changed so dramatically in the intervening months and how, from the Minister's perspective, matters have so resolved themselves that it is not as bad as it might have seemed and that does not have an impact on people's lives in the way he had presented it. I will wait to hear what the Minister has to say. I have never been afraid to stand in support of tough decisions and if he wishes to continue in that vein, I will have no problem in supporting him with a reconfiguration process that is centred on the delivery of a quality health care system with the patient placed front and centre. If this is a hard one to explain politically, I have a history in so doing.

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