Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position in relation to non-co-operation by emergency medical technicians with on-call pre-hospital emergency care rostering arrangements at ambulance stations in the Midland Health Board region. It would be remiss of me not to respond to some of the points raised by him. He said morale of health workers was at an all-time low. I wish to mention a few figures which will put the position in perspective.

When the Senator party's was in Government five years ago, the annual spend on the provision and delivery of health services the length and breadth of the country was shy of £3 billion. The Government recognised that money was required to ensure an adequate level of service. We have done a lot and recognise there is a lot more to be done. We have put approximately three times that amount –€9 billion – into the health service. We have extended services—