John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I join my colleagues in expressing disappointment and absolute outrage at the moneys withheld from people in residential homes. At this time of the year, it is a poignant symbol of how out of touch the Government is with many sectors of society. I am particularly disappointed that, as we can all plainly see, if my colleague, Deputy Perry, and our party leader, Deputy Kenny, had not been so vociferous in this regard, very little if anything would have been done to recompense those people who found themselves defrauded by the State. I salute the efforts of Deputies Perry and Kenny to highlight the issue and ensure that the Government take action. I echo Senator Ulick Burke's comments, who expressed his reservations about the €2,000 that it is proposed to repay. In many situations and circumstances, that will not be commensurate with the amount that people are owed.

I also want to return to another aspect of the Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2004 that relates specifically to the new health service authority and the abolition of the health boards. We have seen crocodile tears in both Houses from members of the Government regarding the fact that local representatives' voices will be removed almost completely from the running of the health services. It is a retrograde step and particularly disappointing that the first implementation and change brought about in reforming the health services was the abolition of the board itself, with no substantial reform of structures below that level, from the chief executive officers down to administrative staff.

Several speakers have pointed out the great increases on health in various budgets and Books of Estimates published over the past few years. During that time, we have also seen remarkable increases in the numbers of those employed in administering the health service, but not in doctors, nurses and medical staff. In this House we heard the statistic during a debate a few weeks ago that, of 33,000 extra people employed over a five-year or six-year period in the health services, only 6,000 were nurses. Most of the remainder were administrative staff.

That is the big issue that must be tackled by this Government or any other regarding reform of the health service. No proposal has been announced in this Bill or by members of the Government to tackle the serious issue of where resources are spent in the health services. We must achieve better value for the money that we spend. This Bill and this Government are not doing enough to ensure that we get it, and that is why I have serious reservations about this legislation.