Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

It is ironic to receive the letter from you this morning, a Chathaoirligh, stating that Fine Gael's proposed home owner support amendment to the National Asset Management Agency legislation is ruled out of order when the headline in the newspapers is that 1,000 people are in trouble with their mortgages and only half of those individuals are receiving support from the State. I seek an urgent debate on this issue given that we are precluded from debating it during the debate on the NAMA legislation. It shows the crisis that exists for people with mortgages.

Another issue that affects other groups of people is equally important, the concern that the cost of VHI premia could increase by 20% before the end of this year. This requires an urgent debate with the Minister, Deputy Mary Harney. Government policy and its failure to control costs has caused VHI premia to increase by 40% this year. The people who most need their VHI are the elderly, because access to public hospitals is getting harder. Many of them have been paying their premia for many years but they can no longer afford them due to the huge increases over the last couple of years. I seek an urgent debate with the Minister on this issue.

There should also be a debate on health promotion and screening for diseases. According to an article I read recently, nine out of ten individuals who turn up in emergency departments with heart attacks do not survive. That is a poor survival rate from heart attacks. We must constantly promote screening for disease and health promotion.