Senators:

A friend of mine involved in the health service often says we should call the Department of Health and Children the department of disease in so far as there is a need for constant forward planning. A census is carried out every five years and the figures for the latest census will be published on 26 April 2007, which will give an indication of population growth. We seem to be playing catch-up, with which the Minister will be familiar because of the current nurses' dispute. Is there a planning unit in the Department which studies population trends? People are living longer now and while this is good news it means the health service is under more pressure. People are surviving illnesses that would have killed them in the past. A heart attack years ago would have killed whereas now the treatment is regarded as a piece of plumbing, according to Dr. Neligan. I do not think he is a friend of the Minister's——