Results 3,201-3,220 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: I was sceptical about the HSE in opposition and some of those concerns were justified.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: Let me say this, and I will talk about the Opposition lot in a few minutes.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: We can engage in all the banter we like but it is not appropriate.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: The lives of these women have been turned upside down but the HSE needs to be turned upside down. It needs root and branch reform.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: This Minister will set about doing that.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: We owe a great debt of gratitude to the nurse who blew the whistle in this case.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: It is unacceptable that we have to rely on whistleblowers. Will sacking the Minister improve the situation of these women or the health service?

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: The truthful answer is no. The Opposition would have a political scalp but that will not improve the situation for these women.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: The best way forward is through consensus.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: It is possible to get consensus on many issues and it should be possible to get it on the health issue because there does not appear to be a great difference between the parties on the question of health.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: I saw the manifestos.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: I saw the Labour Party's political manifesto.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: I do not know how the Opposition can have the social insurance model it has advocated without advocating tax increases. I have looked at every single model.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: The honourable exception is the Sinn Féin Party which said that we need tax increases. If the Opposition thinks that we can have a world-class health service on the cheap, it is wrong.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: The Opposition advocated tax cuts. That is the problem. It should be possible, given that there is not much difference between all the political parties on the question of health, to get a consensus on this, as the Minister for Health and Children said yesterday.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: Experts such as Maev-Ann Wren say we face a double difficulty because our population is ageing and we have better medicine and technology.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: People are staying alive longer and the statistics are quite startling.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: Cancer occurs predominantly in older people, with approximately 60% of cases diagnosed in people aged 65 and over.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: Mainly for demographic reasons the number of patients will double over the next 15 years.

Confidence in Minister for Health and Children: Motion (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

John Gormley: More than 96,000 patients were discharged from hospital following a diagnosis of cancer in 2006. That is an increase of 75% over 1997.