Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. As Deputy Maloney said, it is almost an annual event; sometimes it takes place more often. I compliment Deputy Kelleher on the way he has sought to identify the issues and for proposing this debate. It gives us an opportunity to identify the problems and try to find solutions, in so far as we can. I want to do so in a constructive way. Deputy Twomey said a lot about hearing little from the Opposition. I listened to the debate over the past two days. I do not think we talked about the dysfunction of the health service because there are some really good practices and people who work exceptionally hard.

There is a shortage of funding, and it is a matter for the Government to prioritise how that funding is spent. The Minister looked for €100 million this year in addition to what he got last year and he was given €25 million, while the Government used the money for tax cuts and other measures. That was a Government decision to use funds that could have been used to alleviate this crisis. The Government has to decide what kind of health service it wants. Does it want to meet the needs of the people or does it want to buy the next election by dangling tax cuts and other offers as it did in the past? That is where I am critical of the political approach. I will not criticise the staff or, as the Government parties did when they were in opposition, suggest that we have a Third World health service. I hope the Government sees that is not the case.

We have heard the standard bluster in debates here. The press or research offices within Fine Gael and the Labour Party issue the doctrine to the backbenchers: deny there is any great problem, and start talking about the people who were in government last and their record. While Fianna Fáil was in government, between 2001 and 2010, it produced a report entitled Quality and Fairness: A Health System for You in 2001. The document contained 121 recommendations, 97% of which were introduced during that period. There was a 55% increase in the number of patients treated; investment in community services; investment in, and development of, a cardiovascular strategy which saw the life expectancy of men and women increase by two years during that period; and a cancer strategy with investment in treatment, infrastructure and the model of care whereby people were treated more quickly by multidisciplinary teams. That was recognised internationally as having a major impact on treating the disease at a time when the incidence of cancer was growing significantly. There was investment in maternity and other infrastructure around the country, including the mid-west, the east coast and the Cork region. Nursing was dealt with and the degree course was introduced. There was some work done on primary care, although much more needs to be done. The Fair Deal scheme was introduced and the National Treatment Purchase Fund was introduced to deal with backlogs at certain times of the year. It is a bit nauseating to hear that Deputy Lawlor has been running around the hospitals. God knows what he has been doing visiting hospitals over the past few weeks.

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