Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I regret that the Labour Party and Fine Gael amendments have not been accepted by the Minister who made sympathetic noises in the other House, such that there was some hope there might have been a reprieve in the Bill. It is a real shame the Minister cannot accept the amendments, in particular having heard the genuine words of sympathy from the other side of the House. They would have provided some comfort.

There is a contradiction in what the Government is doing. It is rushing the Bill through with what some would describe as unseeming haste, given that it was taken in the Dáil in the middle of last week and brought straight to the Seanad. We are rushing through Committee and Remaining Stages today, yet the Government gave an assurance that St. Luke's Hospital would remain in operation until 2014, or early 2015, according to the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews. It is an odd or an irrational approach to take to what has been described as a hospital with an excellent reputation and which provides an excellent standard of service and treatment for patients. All we have managed to get is a respite for the hospital, rather than any proper assurance in respect of its prolonged existence. As I said, this is just a stay of execution and is simply not good enough.

In the other House Labour Party and Fine Gael Deputies thought that there might be some further movement on the part of the Minister on Report Stage or possibly in this House. However, we have not seen any movement. Unfortunately, this leaves us in a position where we will have to vote against the Bill, given that the amendments have not been accepted. As Senator Prendergast said, they were reasonable. Ours would have allowed for the retention of St. Luke's Hospital. The Minister could have come back and tried to persuade the House otherwise. It is a reasonable amendment and it is unfortunate that it has not been accepted. It leaves us in a difficult position. We are not opposing the Bill for the sake of it because we very much support the national cancer strategy and the concept of having centres of excellence, but St. Luke's Hospital could be retained as part of a network of centres of excellence. The Government accepts that it should continue in operation for a number of years. The Bill is hasty in the extreme and not rational. We have to oppose it on that basis.