Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I wish to move an amendment to the Order of Business to debate No. 37. It is important that we discuss this issue. Yesterday, we saw further evidence from the Taoiseach of botched political reform with his apparent failure to follow through on the reforms announced in the budget. It is now unclear what he intends to do in regard to ministerial pensions and long service increments. Fine Gael has published a Private Members' Bill which would give a statutory basis to a reduction in the number of Ministers of State to 12. The Taoiseach did not do this yesterday when he announced his new appointments. We should debate Fine Gael's motion today because people are concerned about the economy and the Government's proposals on banking. This topic should be a priority given that people are losing their jobs on a daily basis. Every Senator has encountered people who are in despair after becoming unemployed. It is clear that businesses are not moving in the right direction and we need to ensure we address the banking crisis and are given the details of the Government's intentions.

I refer to the editorial in The Irish Times today regarding the slow implementation of A Vision for Change, which outlines how our mental health services ought to progress. An independent report which was commissioned by the Government and published last week highlighted the disgraceful situation in regard to the implementation of A Vision for Change. I know Senators on all sides of the House are concerned about our mental health services, but this independent report says no drive or leadership is being shown in implementing this document. There is appalling neglect of mental health throughout the country despite the Government's claim that it is implementing A Vision for Change. There is a pressing need to publish a detailed plan with targets, a timeframe and resource commitments if there is to be any progress. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate as soon as possible on that independent report as well as on its implementation.

While we welcome the reorganisation of the HSE, we also need a debate on the impact on frontline services given some of the details that have been published, including the 1,000 jobs that are being cut.