Brendan Kenneally (Fianna Fail)

In common with just about every other Member of this House, I welcome the debate on the health service against the background of the Brennan and Prospectus reports. Health is never far from the mind of a public representative and it is the one subject which comes up time and again when we speak to our constituents. This debate is timely, and perhaps even overdue, but I congratulate the Minister on having the courage to tackle the problem head on and initiate a process which we have not seen in this country for over 30 years.

We all are only too well aware that the health of the nation is costing us around €9 billion per annum. This is a staggering sum and if that is what is to be spent, then I am totally committed to it. However, I am convinced, from reading those reports, from my own observation and from what I have been told, that we are just not getting value for that kind of money. Logic alone tells us this is true. If anyone had told me back in 1997 that we would increase our spending on health by 125% in five years and add a staggering 25,000 extra personnel to the payroll in the health sector, I would have cheered and said that all our health problems were over. I would also have said it was a false election promise, which could not and would not be delivered on. I might have added that there would hardly be a Minister for Finance in existence who would sanction that kind of money, but I would have been wrong on all counts.