Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I want to raise the important issue of the incidence of multiple sclerosis, MS. Unfortunately, Donegal records the highest levels of MS in the country and due to the fact that we do not have a consultant neurologist in Letterkenny General Hospital, MS sufferers must travel to Dublin to see a consultant.

I know the issue of centres of excellence is close to Senator Norris's heart. We do not want to have specialties dotted all over the place in a haphazard form, but the north west needs a shared centre of excellence between Altnagelvin and Letterkenny General Hospital. The only way we can achieve that is through tapping into the political will on both sides of the Border. The will exists at grass roots level to share resources, whether health or infrastructure, etc. However, the will is not there at national level, be it London or Dublin. We need to step up the debate with regard to Northern Ireland and cross-Border resources.

There is urgent need for this debate because MS sufferers are given appointments for 9 a.m. in Dublin. This leaves them with two choices, either to go to Dublin the night before and pay outrageous hotel bills or leave Donegal at 4 a.m. That is neither just nor equitable. It is important to have a common sense approach to centres of excellence and to the treatment of patients, whether they are cancer sufferers, MS patients or others.