Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I was listening to the debate and I heard the contributions of the Members of the Labour Party, which claims it is fighting the cases of the less well-off and those on the margins of society. I do not know where they have been but I would like to remind them of a few points. Obviously, these are not the points they read. They only read what suits them.

Spending is up by €6.5 billion since 1997, when Deputy Ruairí Quinn and the boys left office. They need to ask how high health is on our priority list. The Government is putting health so high on the agenda that there is a 10.4% increase in the Book of Estimates, whereas every other Department has received an average increase of 5% across the board.

The national treatment purchase fund will ensure that 9,500 people, who are the most vulnerable in our society, including the young and the elderly, will be treated throughout 2004.