Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For the record, probably the largest and most effective health capital programme began in 1997 or 1998 and went through to 2010. It meant a new hospital in Tullamore but also the transformation of St. Vincent's University Hospital, St. James's Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. Essentially, they were new developments of significant scale.

It is silly and childish for the Taoiseach to say that the Government will build three new hospitals in the next ten years and so the Government is great. It is far more comprehensive than that. Far more is needed in areas like disability services, chronic illness treatment and so on. This many not mean new buildings but certainly a better and more effective targeting, not to mention the significant infrastructural improvements that materialised from the late 1990s onwards.

While there is more to be done, the completion of the motorway network was effective in terms of connectivity and quality of life for many people living in different cities.

On the programme for Government, the commitments on mental health are still not being realised. Deputy Browne has been informed that only half of the 350 posts approved for mental health services in 2015 have been filled and only one third of the 317 posts approved in 2016 have been filled. The Government is falling far short of the objectives set in A Vision for Change. The House was assured more posts would be filled but that has not occurred. All Deputies are aware of the difficulties in accessing child and mental health service units and consultant posts. We need a more coherent and better response from the Government to meet the needs of mental health patients.

I do not know if the Taoiseach is aware of the remark made by the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Boris Johnson, this morning that regulatory divergence is an objective of the British Government. Mr. Johnson's speech is one in a series of speeches by British Ministers that are meant to be part of government policy. In the context of the British Prime Minister enlisting him to help to negotiate the overall final status agreement, does the Taoiseach agree that this is very bad news and a doubling down by the British Government in terms of where it wants to go with this?

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