Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

The day will come when the Government has to listen.

Trust is at the heart of this. It is not surprising as the Government lied to get elected and totally undermined the trust the electorate may have had in it. The Government is not trusted with decision-making with the result that the whole political system is so damaged and undermined that I wonder if it will ever recover.

I appeal to the Government to reconsider this issue. The legislation has not been passed and therefore it is not too late. The board should be given more support if it needs it. Nobody would object to this. The Minister of State should not peddle the pathetic argument about how much it will cost. It costs money to run health boards, hospitals and schools.