Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senator Leyden in calling for an urgent debate on health. There are many issues that continue to afflict the health service, not least the budgetary restraints all over the country, the moratorium on staff recruitment, the relegation of the people of the north-west region to second class citizens in the context of the provision of services. A silent vigil will take place this evening to coincide with the visit of the Labour Party presidential candidate to Sligo. It will highlight that party's commitment to develop a centre of excellence for cancer care in the north west of Ireland at Sligo, and the fact that the party reneged on it very quickly with the mere defence that if it were the senior party in the Government, it would have done that, as if that were ever likely. It will also highlight the Fine Gael commitment that there would be a return of the services which were removed a few years ago, which was also reneged upon.

While I appreciate that the Minister has had recent trips to China and elsewhere, so far we have only had one visit to the House in the eight months of this Administration for very important legislation on female genital mutilation. I do not wish to undermine the importance of that legislation, but I would like to see similar respect for the plight of people from the north west, north of a line from Dublin to Galway and west of Mullingar, who seem to be under instruction from the HSE either to move closer or die, rather than have the services they require.

The last act of these Houses before the summer recess was to deny the people fairness and equity in trying to deal with the difficulties of the recession and meet mortgage repayments. They need the same kind of flexibility that is being shown to our nation and our Government by Europe to elongate the mortgage debts of this country by up to 30 years. The Commission proposed today that the rates of those mortgages should be reduced to 0%. It is incumbent on the Government to look again at the Family Home Bill 2011, which was voted down in this House by only three votes-----