Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I know all about it.

In addition to expressing anger at the train delays, Senator Terry also spoke about the postal delays, which occur everywhere. I live 100 yd from the sorting office. If I get my mail, it arrives at approximately 3 p.m., which is an amazing phenomenon. I understand An Post has a new man at the helm. Changes always take place and I hope this will continue to be the case.

Senator McHugh as always spoke with great empathy about cancer services. He said that peripherality should not be used as an excuse for not making services available, which is correct. It is easy to refer to peripherality especially for those who live on islands or, as the Senator does, in a remote part of the country. He listened to the debate about the unreliability of trains and wished that he could have a train service to Donegal, regardless of whether it was reliable.

I heard the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, speak about acute services as opposed to palliative services. Palliative services can always be offered regardless of how remote is the region. However, this is not true for the acute services unless they are grouped in an area. The Senator outlined a feasible grouping of acute services. It is unacceptable for patients to undergo a seven-hour journey, followed by treatment and then another seven-hour journey home, and they may face further issues on arrival home. The Senator fights the good fight and I hope he will ultimately get what he seeks, as it is strong policy.

Senator Fitzgerald is very passionate about the postal service and what it has meant to him. While I could not quite follow the episode he outlined, it seems to be quite nasty and particularly unreliable. I hope that a way to rectify the issue can be found. I advise the Senator and Senator Terry that we will not be able to hold a debate next week. However, I can promise it for the week when we come back.