Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)

With another savage budget due to be introduced in December, the Government continues to perform flip-flops on whether it will increase income tax and, if so, in what guise and whether social welfare rates will be cut, notwithstanding commitments made to the contrary. A colleague told me a joke about this issue this morning: "Why did Enda Kenny cross the road? Because he said he would not cross it." In the midst of all this, the Minister for Finance confirmed at the weekend that Allied Irish Banks had requested the Government's permission to negotiate a salary for its new chief executive officer of in excess of €500,000, the level at which the Government capped bankers' pay. As people continue to struggle to make ends meet and decide which bills they will pay, I ask the Leader to bring the Minister for Finance before the House to discuss bankers' salaries and confirm that the Government will not allow AIB to breach the cap on bankers' pay.

On an issue close to my heart, a newspaper report published in the summer noted that the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics had deemed a cancer test, the oncotype DX test, too expensive for public patients and decided it should only be available privately at a cost of €3,200. According to the report, the test was not recommended on price grounds "to ensure the taxpayer gets value for money". I want the Minister for Health to indicate what action will be taken to ensure comprehensive gene testing will be made available to women with breast cancer and those at risk of the disease and what gene testing facilities for cancer are available to public and private patients. This is an important issue. We all know people with cancer, a disease that is scourging families and tearing communities apart. I call for a debate on this issue on behalf of all those waiting for genetic testing services, those who may be unaware of the existence of such a test and those who may be precluded from availing of such a service owing to its cost and unduly long waiting lists.