Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I support both amendments. The Minister of State will be well aware that I opposed this Bill on Second Stage and called a vote on it although that vote was not able to proceed as there was no one else to act as a teller in the time allotted. I welcome the amendments, both of which are important. The first deals with the bringing of any decision before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The second, in the name of the Labour Party, is the crucial one. Ultimately, any Government or whoever has a majority could decide to do whatever it wanted with St. Luke's after 2014. We should nail that in the legislation by making it clear that St. Luke's will remain, with its land and buildings, as a treatment centre for cancer patients in the public sector.

I oppose the Bill because, fundamentally, it closes St. Luke's Hospital after 2014 but it also implements a flawed plan in regard to the provision of radiation oncology, as the previous speaker observed. This plan discriminates against people who live in regions north of the line between Galway and Dublin, such as those who live in my county, Donegal. We have passed Second Stage, the Government is hell bent on pursuing this issue and, therefore, the amendments proposed by Senator Fitzgerald and the Labour Party are worthy of being accepted by the Government. I support them wholeheartedly. If this Bill is passed, the least that can be done is to ensure the lands and buildings of St. Luke's remain in the provision of the health services after 2014. They should be used in the provision of public health services.