Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The Minister for Health and Children needs to come to the House for an urgent debate on the newspaper headlines about the failure to read 58,000 X-rays in time for the patients affected. This means that either no one gives a damn about the results of the X-rays or the X-rays were irrelevant in the first place. The Government's response has been pathetic. There is almost a malaise and apathy affecting certain Ministers regarding concerns about their Departments. We need an urgent debate on the matter. It is too serious to ignore the fact that 58,000 X-rays were not read properly and that there are still delays in reading X-rays carried out in excess of six months ago, with some taken up to four years ago.

I also seek an urgent debate on the public sector strike action. The phoney war is over but this is a serious issue. Any strike will reduce productivity in the economy. If productivity is reduced, our competitiveness will be reduced and if that happens, more people will lose their jobs in the coming months. The Government deficit is already massive and we are heading towards bankruptcy. I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the issue as a matter of urgency. Public sector workers have taken a disproportionate hit in the last two budgets, which is acceptable, but the Government part of the economy is the part that is in the greatest mess. We need to have an urgent debate on the likely outcome of the strike and how it will impact on citizens. Therefore, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that we discuss the effects of the strike and how it will affect all citizens, both now and in the future. I ask that the debate be held as a matter of urgency.