Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Government may not be able to control leaks but it can certainly control the management of the health service, the subject of the Progressive Democrats motion.

Senator Glynn said €9 billion was not a major amount by European standards to invest in the health service. He referred to the work of the health boards and said they should not be abolished. The Progressive Democrats say they should. There is double speak surrounding the health service while patients suffer. What is the Government doing about it? Many areas of the health service have been improved and the Minister probably does his best but it is not enough where the public is concerned.

We talk about removing political representatives from health boards, although we do not even know if the boards will be abolished such is the level of double talk on the part of the Government parties on the issue. That said, the Minister knows that the medical profession is more political than public representatives.

There is greater bureaucracy in the health service than before. There are more administrators than care workers. The motion tabled by the Progressive Democrats praises the investment of €9 billion in the health service by the Government. Never before has so much money been invested but, as was suggested by a Senator on the Government side, it is not being managed properly for which responsibility rests with the Government. The Progressive Democrats are criticising their own Government. They are trying to have it both ways.