Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Many issues are pressing on the Minister for Health and they are all important. I hope that in dealing with the many problems arising where there are different interest groups in society pointing to injustices to themselves, the Government does not forget there is a world outside Ireland, where people also face major challenges. I was struck by a comment yesterday in The Irish Times, where the new Minister for Health in Libya, Dr. Fatima Hamroush, was interviewed. She is a consultant ophthalmologist in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. I am sure everyone wishes her well in what will be a challenging position. Among the calls from the international media and embassies wishing her well, it appears she got messages from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to say that she could go to take up the post in Libya only if she found a locum to cover for her. As I read that I wondered what we are coming to in this country.

Senator Crown and others have spoken eloquently about how the RCSI did not cover itself in glory when it came to protecting some of the students supposedly involved in a pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain.