Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

In April and May, the House passed legislation liberalising the pharmacy sector. It was opposed, but it was the right thing to do. Young Irish graduates who could not get into pharmacy school here because there was only one school with restricted places went elsewhere, primarily the United Kingdom. They qualified and returned, but they could not open pharmacies because of legislative restrictions. It was a ludicrous situation, but it was stood over for years. I have no sympathy with the Senator's opinion. We will use the money to provide more public services.

I am a strong fan of public medicine. In the time since I became Minister for Health and Children, the amount spent by the public sector has increased from 78% of the total spent on health to 80%. The amount of private health care funding has declined by 2%.