Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is amazing, when one starts off on one of these subjects that one can find lots of information one has left out and lots of other information that should be dealt with. I acknowledge the Minister is well aware of these issues, as we have discussed matters of this nature in the past but I will state simply that this legislation is highly beneficial from a cost perspective. Moreover, it could be equally beneficial to patients because it may help everyone to focus more clearly on the degree of patients' illnesses or complaints and on the need for everyone else to keep down the costs. While I will not go over the points made by other speakers, suffice it to say I cannot understand how the number of personnel in the health services almost doubled, or certainly increased by one third, in the short space of time between the abolition of the health boards and the introduction of the HSE. This raises many questions.

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