James Carroll (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for attending. This is my first time to be in the House when the Minister is present. At 26 I am the youngest Member of the Seanad and I am aware the Minister was a Member in her 20s also. I understand she was the youngest ever Member and if I have half the success in my political life that the Minister has had I will be delighted.

I have six key points that I would like the Minister to address. The first concerns the impact of the 1 July deadline on health services nationally. The second is on the status of the transformation programmes in light of the cuts in last December's budget and being conscious of next December's budget. Third is the reasons for her rejection of the universal health service model. I am aware that when the Progressive Democrats Party was formed that was an area its members examined but then turned away from. The fourth point concerns the Minister's update on the co-location plans. The fifth point is on healthy eating lifestyles, which I believe must be advocated in a far more direct way, and whether the Minister has any plans in that regard. The sixth is about delivering political accountability. It is my belief that there is a need for the Minister for Health and Children to have more power to get and give answers to public representatives to deliver full accountability.

On the first point about the status of health services post-1 July, the Minster's brief is possibly the most unpopular and unwanted but it is also one of the most influential and powerful. While there is constant good and bad news on occasion, I would like to raise the issue, which has also been raised by my colleague, Senator Dearey, of Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, which according to the HSE is due to close as an acute hospital from 1 July as a result of the shortage of junior doctors. I ask the Minister to expand on that when replying.

There has been talk of three particular areas being hit — anaesthetics, emergency medicine and general medicine. I ask the Minister to elaborate on that because as we all know, people's greatest fears is about their health and the health service, whether it is to do with their children, parents or grandparents, and having a safe structure in place in the various regions throughout the country is of vital importance. I hope the Minister can allay some of those fears today.

My second point concerns the new emergency department opening in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. That was an ongoing issue when I was elected to the county council last June. It was a matter of great importance. People who have been inside the new accident and emergency department have said it is magnificent, and it is an important step for us locally. My mother, who was a nurse in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital — she trained there in 1966 — is horrified when she hears the bad stories that come out about the hospital but it is a fine hospital. It has a fantastic reputation both nationally and internationally and while it has taken somewhat of a battering locally, the new €11.5 million emergency department will provide a great service. The new medical assessment unit, MAU, that will also open in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital will also help alleviate pressure. I hope that will deliver major change for the whole area.

The emergency department in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was part of the transformation, which is my second point in terms of the way the transformation programmes will be affected by the cuts in recent budgets, and especially in light of the upcoming budget. Professor Drumm has said that a plan for a reduction in staff will not be met this year because of a slowdown in the number of retirements.

On my third point, I heard the Minister say in the past in the Dáil that when the Progressive Democrats were formed they were in favour of a universal health service but that she turned away from that view. Fine Gael's model for a new health and health insurance system is based on the Dutch model. Has the Minister examined this model and those of other countries? Were there reasons she decided not to follow them?

In the last general election, different stances were taken on hospital co-location. Some argued it was correct as a private patient should not be taking up a public bed. Others claimed it was giving more effect to a two-tier system. Currently, there is the perception the co-location plans are on ice. Will the Minister elaborate on the policy's future?

As the youngest Member of the House, I tend to be more aware of the calls for healthy lifestyles. When I was in University College Dublin not too many years ago, healthy eating was not one of my priorities, to which many of my friends can testify. I recall reading Alan Carr's book on how to stop smoking and how he got into making his own juice smoothies every morning. Having to do something for my health, I decided to try this for a while. Five years later, I am still making a smoothie every morning and it has transformed my health. I no longer get the colds and flu that I used to when at school and college.

The HSE says obesity costs the taxpayer €1.8 billion each year. If a certain cancer or other ailment was costing as much, there would be a clamour to take direct action and introduce a screening programme. Instead of just putting up warning posters, we should be involved in direct preventive action against obesity such as getting schools to get their transition year students make smoothies for school consumption. This would be much better than having school children full of Coke and Pepsi running hyper around the place.

The creation of the HSE made sense, particularly with delivering best practice in one health board to all areas. However, not everything was done right in the transition. Up to 90% was done right but the other 10%, such as delivering more accountability to Members of the Oireachtas, was not.