Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

She is another Senator on the other side with a little too much to say.

While we are creating centres of excellence and putting infrastructure in place — I will address Sligo now — we must consider existing services. Sligo town has an excellent service, but it will be audited in the near future by Professor Keane. Sligo has a multidisciplinary team and good outcomes. I know the answer, but can we keep centres that have good outcomes like Sligo while putting services in place in other centres of excellence?

When the centres are up and running, can we consider the mode of transport to be used to transfer sick people? We need small luxury coaches because ill patients do not want to be exposed to train or bus journeys that must be shared with others. They should not be on buses that stop at every crossroads or pub, as has been the case. Every well-sized town should have a dedicated coach service for people travelling to centres of excellence. If someone is not feeling well, he or she could travel in comfort. This is an important matter, particularly in respect of the roads from Sligo to Galway. They are better than they were 20 years ago, but they are not motorways. Will the Minister bear this in mind?

There is a great deal of fear regarding centres of excellence, but an onus is on both sides of the House not to scaremonger. Cancer sufferers, whether they are men or women, are vulnerable to people's comments. I listened to Senator Fitzgerald, who spoke of differences and people's upset with the Medical Practitioners Act 2007.