Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

We have all done many examinations in our time, but I am sure we will agree that the leaving certificate remains the hardest examination of all. We should send the best wishes of the House to those young people who are sitting examinations today.

I ask the Leader to change the wording of Fianna Fáil's Private Members' business so that Senators can vote on a motion relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This House needs to show the people of this country and the rest of Europe that it fully supports fundamental rights for all EU citizens. Perhaps the Leader will take on board my suggestion that he should provide an opportunity for all of us to vote on this issue, which affects people in Ireland and throughout the EU.

Can the Leader ask the Minister for Health and Children to make a statement on an important issue that has been brought to my attention? The issue in question relates to the ongoing debate on the health service. I was contacted this morning by a doctor who told me he knows of a laboratory that deliberately decided not to analyse 12 blood samples for medical conditions which are mainly associated with elderly people. The laboratory did not have the resources to conduct the tests in question. The general practitioner told me he is unable to instigate treatment, or make an accurate diagnosis, in respect of the 12 patients. The laboratory has told him that if he wishes to repeat the blood tests, it cannot guarantee that the tests he has requested will be carried out. If the patients in question are dragged back into the surgery to give blood once more, their general practitioner will not be able to assure them that he has accurate information on them. A doctor has contacted me about this ongoing issue. Laboratories throughout the country do not seem to be able to test all the blood samples that are submitted to them by general practitioners.

I would like the Leader to ask the Minister, Deputy Harney, to explain what is going on. It is impossible for general practitioners to provide a service to sick patients if the laboratories are unable to guarantee that they will analyse the blood samples the GPs submit. This issue needs to be debated further if we are to find out what is going on in our health services.