Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

Unlike my two colleagues, the cap does fit very comfortably on my head regarding co-location and most of my Fianna Fáil colleagues would be quite happy about co-location. Most of those who have used the public health service refer to the excellence of the service. They will always say it was top-class and that they could not have asked for anything better. However, there is always a "but" and this is usually a reference to the difficulty in accessing the service. I believe the Minister, Deputy Harney and the Minister of State, Deputy Smith when they refer to 20% of the beds being taken up by consultants' private patients. A total of 33% of elective surgery is composed of private patients. As the Minister stated in the House yesterday, she is of the opinion that this is too much and it is too much for the public patient to have to put up with this.

I believe the Minister when she says she is including St. James's and Beaumont hospitals in this legislation which, as the Minister of State has outlined, is to put the issue beyond doubt and to ensure it is copper-fastened in order that there will not be problems down the road. This is a means of ruling out everything. The Government is obliged to be guided by the advice of the Attorney General.

I do not have a medical background but I would have thought the training of medical staff would still be uniform and they are still trained in the same way as before. The number of students studying medicine is increasing, from 340 up to nearly 700. Any student with a total of 480 points in the leaving certificate will be assessed for medicine. This will greatly improve the system because not all those with 600 points are ideal candidates for the study of medicine, nursing, pharmacy or physiotherapy. I agree with Senator Fitzgerald that a further debate is required to tease out these issues and I suggest it could be the subject of statements in the House when the climate is calmer.