Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I compliment the Minister who has been proactive in dealing with the ills in the health system.

When the health boards were established, the county councils and county borough councils had responsibility for the provision of health services, the county manager being the chief executive. There was quite an outcry at the fact that this would no longer be the case. It was felt that health boards would not fulfil the various functions of the local authorities. That was 33 years ago and since then the health boards have achieved much.

Time marches on, however. Nothing is cast in stone and no situation is so utopian that it cannot be improved. The health boards have achieved much. They can take much credit for the establishment of specialties. I am chairman of the Midland Health Board, of which I have been a member for almost 23 years. The board has set up a number of specialties which would not have been established in the region if there had not been a regional health board.