Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I will not grandstand on any issues here or raise matters just for the sake if creating a political football, but I will not make any apologies for raising in this House issues of concern to the citizens of this country. Any Senator who rises here to speak should be listened to. They represent entire regions and entire facets of our communities.

Seven years ago there was a cancer strategy announced and there is still inaction in Government. I support the call of my leader in the House, Senator Frances Fitzgerald, for a full debate on cancer services in general. We are hearing about the human tragedy in Portlaoise, but I know of regions, including my region of the south-east, that do not have radiotherapy services. BreastCheck is not available in Waterford city, the fourth largest city in the country. There is also a vast amount of work to be done on testicular cancer and prostate cancer for male patients.

However, I wish to touch on the more fundamental issue of public accountability. Will we, as politicians from all sides of the House, hand over power to the executives of this country? We see many examples of this. We are speaking about the HSE today. We see this with the NRA, with city and county managers, and with VECs. There is a fundamental threat to the running of this country and unless we — I include us all — take back control of our country and how we want to run it, we are going down a very dark alleyway. I call for a debate on both of those issues, the cancer strategy and the fundamental issue of democracy in our country and who is accountable to the people who elect them.