Tony Kett (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on the fine job he is doing. Without a shadow of a doubt, he has the toughest job in the political spectrum and faces demands on a daily basis. He is man with the commitment, drive and ability to deliver in this area.

I welcome the motion put down by our colleagues in the Progressive Democrats. It would not have stood up six years ago because the system did not have the resources for reform. That we can now talk about reforming services, management structures and financial accountability and follow the €9 billion put into the system is a reflection of the achievements of the Minister.

I am glad to see that the Opposition, in the amendment, has acknowledged that major resources are being put into the system. Heretofore Opposition Members would have given the credit to the global economy. That is the general thrust of the argument in the good times. In bad times, credit falls back to the Government. That is par for the course but some consistency in these debates would be welcome.

The motion reflects on the €9 billion the Minister has put into the system. It is the largest investment ever in health, an increase of 134% on the 1997 figure, and represents 7.7% of GNP. In any terms, that is a huge contribution. The health services have benefited in the past four years from sustained increases in funding. There are more staff than ever – numbers have increased to over 90,000 from 68,000. There are those who argue that these extra staff work in the administrative field with too few at the coal face but if resources are put into the front-line services, back up is required to administer them.