John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

That would not be my intention.

I welcome the motion before us because it gives us a good opportunity to discuss primary health care and it is probably the most important element of health care delivery that we can examine and it is also a very important part of the programme for Government. However, the blatant and undisguised party politicisation of the debate is to be regretted, and I am sure the Leas-Chathaoirleach will agree with that.

I am certain our colleagues on the other side of the House will agree with me when I say that the provision of primary care and primacy care infrastructure is one of the more important elements of reform that we can achieve in this term of Government.

We will resist the temptation to point out that the current dysfunctional condition of the health service is a legacy of mismanagement of the system by the previous Administration that we inherited. We saw in yesterday's histrionic behaviour at the Committee of Public Accounts that evidence of this dysfunction remains. It appears that the need to score party political points outweighs the requirement for calm and measured debate. Undoubtedly there is a level of frustration with the manner in which certain elements of health care is provided in this country but it can hardly be addressed by stagecraft or amateur dramatics, either in this House or elsewhere.

Health care has been prioritised in the programme for Government and funding has been allocated for the provision of this vital infrastructure. This will not only go a long way towards addressing the existing inadequacies in the provision of primary health care but will also act as a stimulus to the wider economy through the provision of much-needed employment in the construction phase of such developments. The motion before the House appears to be an amalgamation of everything. It was obviously put together by a committee in an attempt to score as many political points as possible. In its thoroughness it forgets that the problems highlighted in the motion can be attributed to and traced directly back to the failures of the previous Government. It will be supported and voted for by Members of this House who, probably out of a sense of embarrassment or decency, have decided not to turn up for this debate.

In light of this, the Government amendment is reasonable and can be supported by all Members of the House, including those on the Opposition side. The delivery of primary care in an integrated fashion is a major step forward and in the current constrained economy represents an ambitious but deliverable project. It is regrettable that this work was not undertaken when there were ample funds available. The funding available for it now is something of which the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform can be proud and they can take some measure of satisfaction in its delivery.

The delivery of health care in a timely fashion based on need and delivered as close to home as possible at the level of least complexity can be achieved. This underpins the strategy of health care delivery in this country. Public private partnerships have worked well in the past, particularly in the delivery of vital infrastructure, such as roads. We have seen this in some of the projects delivered under the previous Administration, to be fair. For too long, however, we have spoken about health service reform. We all agree that the previous Government's effort in this direction through the establishment of the HSE represented an honest but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to grapple with the problem. The legislation before the House seeks to deliver the most fundamental reform of the service since 2004 and will probably go a long way towards addressing many of the legacy issues in that regard. This Government has moved very quickly and the Minister is to be commended on that.

In supporting the Government's amendment we can all look forward to the day in the not too distant future, when the people of Ireland will have the health service they need and demand.