John Whelan (Labour)

I will not try the patience of the Deputy Leader and call for the Minister of Health to come into the House. There is a long list of questions before him and it will take him a couple of days to get through them all. It reminds me of a comment made by a previous Minister of Health and former Taoiseach that there are more landmines in the Department of Health than in Angola. It still seems the case, even though I know the Minister is doing his best to clean up the mess he inherited from his predecessor. In sporting parlance, he received somewhat of a hospital pass, if I may say so. There is a tendency and temptation which is hard to resist to turn medical issues and important matters of health care and hospitals into political footballs. Earlier in the week there was an attempt from the Opposition benches to blame Michael D. Higgins for the problems in Roscommon hospital. It was a remarkable feat, which turned a political football into a hot air balloon. It defied logic and political gravity, if I may say so.

I call on the Minister for Justice and Equality and for Defence to answer to the House on whether he is aware of the duty of care and responsibility he has under health and safety regulations and labour law to the 1,500 prison officers, soldiers, gardaí and prisoners in Portlaoise which contains two high security prisons. There is an absurd proposal from the HSE to close the accident and emergency department in Portlaoise hospital which is the 11th busiest acute general hospital in the country. Notwithstanding the needs of the community, the two high security prisons are across the road, as everyone will know, on the Dublin Road.