James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Canada and the United Kingdom have centralised services over the past decade, with no benefits whatsoever for patients. Canada ended up with a health care crisis. This was very evident, it was in the media and the Minister knows all about it. The result was partly due to the centralisation of services and the reduction of a 30,000 bed capacity. Centralisation removes local access and is socially disadvantageous for the young and, indeed, the elderly.

Following Fine Gael revelations which showed that approximately €460 million worth of hospital facilities were lying idle because the Government had failed to provide the necessary funding, the former Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, miraculously came up with something like €85 million to open some of them. However, a great many were never opened, despite the promises made in the run-up to the local and European elections, and they still remain closed.