Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I would like the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, the HSE and the medical unions to make it clear that where a person is in imminent danger of death, a doctor or a health institution has not merely a right but an obligation to intervene.

The good samaritan did not ask what rules he was breaking when he helped someone by the roadside. Nor did he check whether his insurance was in order. It is all very well to talk about catchment areas but one must also consider the distances between populations and hospitals when one is judging where facilities should be placed.

On the point of distance, perhaps the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform can tell us why the inquiry into the Brian Rossiter case is taking place in Dublin rather than in Clonmel, where the incident happened.