David Norris (Independent)

I second Senator Ross's amendment. I point out to Senator O'Toole that there is indeed a nursing degree in Trinity College and an extremely good degree it is too. We should not apologise for that, it is yet another contribution the University of Dublin makes to the life of this country.

We, however, do not always make a good contribution to the debate on health. The Government side lectures us for always attacking the Minister for Health and Children. I have not done that and we should not be tarred en bloc. Yesterday I went to the briefing by the HSE in this complex and it was one of the most refreshing, honest, clear and professional briefing sessions I have ever attended. The HSE members were uniformly excellent, with Deputies from all parties and areas asking about their hospitals and patient treatment and they were given immediate, clear answers.

I disagree strongly with Senator Finucane. We do no service raising these items culled from newspapers that are ill-informed and plainly inaccurate. The question of this scanner was raised at that HSE meeting and the response given was that a sophisticated machine has been acquired, it is on target in terms of delivery and it is being stored for safety awaiting the proper technical adjustment which is required.