Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Hayes also asked about No. 12 on the Order Paper and he received an ample reply from Senator Dardis, who clarified the status of that Bill. I see Senator Morrissey is now in the House.

Senator O'Toole asked about the public and private sectors working together and the state of the Irish language. While he does not have any concern about gaelscoileanna having better pupil-teacher ratios, he wished all schools had such a ratio, in which case Irish as taught in other schools would improve greatly. He raised the matter of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. We will be dealing with that issue later.

Senator Ryan spoke about printers who are willing to print textbooks in Irish, but they are not being printed. He referred to the league tables for health. While Opposition Senators have some morsel today, it is a morsel riddled with untruths. He stated that the Government spent 25% less than the four top countries, which is also not true. I am only answering the points raised. Total health spending as a percentage of GNP, which is the appropriate measurement, is 8.9%, which is precisely the OECD average. I am telling the Senator and I recommend that he read the survey. When one pierces it through——