Senators:

She had a major heart attack the night before the election. Currently, one hears of very few bypasses. They have been replaced by stents. This shows what can be done. The Minister referred to advances in prostate cancer and in other cancer services. Unfortunately, other areas are not performing as well.

Senators:

I have no major difficulty with the HSE. It makes sense to have a unified system for running the health service. It allows us to compare what happens in different areas. The Travers report outlined different approaches to legislation and regulations by health boards which led to chaos. Currently, even if rules are wrongly interpreted at least there is a uniform approach and scope to compare and learn from what happens.

Senators:

The PAD system is still not working according to plan. Members of the Oireachtas are still not getting replies quickly enough to their queries. As Opposition spokesman I raise many issues, not to score points against the Minister or anyone else. I do it to try to bring about an improvement in the health service. It is amazing the stories one hears from people. It is difficult to believe some of them could be possibly true but it appears they are when one investigates them. It is important for us to point out where the health service is not working in order that we can improve it.

Senators:

Getting information is a real problem. Anyone who is a member of a regional health forum is aware a question must be tabled a week in advance and only one supplementary question is allowed. That is not very democratic, especially when meetings take place only every few months. That system must be beefed up, in the interests of democracy and of patients who have difficulty getting information. The odds are stacked against us.

Senators:

It was significant there was no major announcement on health last weekend at the Progressive Democrats conference, apart from the issue of an ombudsman for the elderly. The main focus was on tax cuts which says it all about the Government.