Brendan Ryan (Labour)

We in the Labour Party would also like to convey our good wishes to the garda who was injured while bravely upholding both the principle of a society governed by law and the right of ordinary people to live in it without fear. I wish him a speedy recovery. It should be remembered that for all the occasional and perhaps more than occasional critiques, we have a police force which has managed to operate largely unarmed in difficult circumstances. At the level of individual contact with citizens the force is entirely unarmed, which is close to being unique in the world. There is therefore a particularly poignancy when a garda is injured. We need to be heard on this point.

I ask the Leader to arrange for a serious and significant debate on the future of the health services. This should occur sometime early in the session and not be confined to a short debate during Private Members' time. We had a succession of little Fianna Fáil explosions over the summer about the health sector. Former distinguished Members of this House threatened mayhem if certain hospitals were not preserved, and aspiring Members of the other House made similar noises. Plans have been put on and off but it would be nice to hear from the Minister for Health and Children now that she is unburdened with the troubles of being Tánaiste and, presumably, better able to talk to us.