Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I do not know where to start. I have heard quite a few contributions during the last hour. I fully agree with Senator O'Rourke about the importance of the report's implementation. That is the challenge for the Government. I have listened intently to all the speakers. Senator Brendan Ryan made the very good point that, when people are speaking about access to hospitals, they should be talking about the time taken to get there rather than the number of miles to be travelled. That is a valid contribution. Senator Maurice Hayes shared his experience and his involvement in Northern Ireland politics with us. That was extremely useful, and I was delighted Senator Hayes was so hopeful and supportive of the Hanly report. He sees it as an opportunity for the health services to improve and develop. I agree with his statement about consultant provided services and his mentioning developments in telemedicine. Things have changed, and we cannot continue with the model of health services that we had in Ireland in the past.

Centres of excellence are the way to go, and the Hanly report has certainly very much concentrated on them. I share the concerns of those worried about services being sucked into the centres of excellence. However, anyone who has read the report carefully will see that is not what is suggested. On the contrary, there would be far more services given to local hospitals for the delivery of better day care services and so on. What Senator Hayes said should be repeated.

I have listened to some of the statements made and I can understand people's concerns about their local hospitals. I have listened to a fair amount of the debate on television about the Hanly report. If one stands back and thinks of the people who work in the services, many of whom I have met, one will see that many of them are getting rather fed up. They have spent all their time working in the services, but people are constantly standing up and talking about downgrading those services. They are people who work extremely hard every day of the week all over the country, and they have been doing so for years. Many of those nurses and doctors, and all the ancillary professional services in the hospitals, are becoming demotivated by the constant negative drip effect on the health services. Many people's contributions are negative all the time, as if there have not been improvements in the health services. There have been huge improvements in this country's health services over the past ten years or so.

I listened to Senator Ulick Burke. His contribution was extremely negative, and he saw nothing positive whatsoever in the Hanly report. I am sorry to say that. He stated that Mr. Hanly had deferred phase two, but he has not even done phase two. He admitted at his press conference and in his report – if anyone read it – that he wishes to implement the proposals in the two pilot areas first, after which his team will examine the other regions. To say that the report is flawed is a tragedy when it has only just been published.

There have been huge improvements, including in the number of consultants employed over the past few years. The Tierney report in 1993 led to an increase over the years to 2003. The current Government has gone way over the recommended percentages in employing those consultants all over the country. There have been huge improvements in cancer services and additional services to patients and clients everywhere, in equipment, facilities and the delivery of health care. Waiting lists are down in several health board areas. The national treatment purchase fund has been a huge success.