David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday I raised with the Leader the issue of Deputy Reilly's continuance in his position as Minister for Health and my view that he should resign or be sacked by the Taoiseach. In response, the Leader read into the record of the House the qualifying criteria used by the Minister for the selection of primary care centres across the State. What Senator Cummins did not explain, and what he must, is how at the 11th hour the Minister was able to include areas and sites from his own constituency and that of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan.

Any site that was included could fit into the criteria if necessary but in reality the Minister of State resigned because she could not stomach stroke politics. The CEO of the HSE has resigned because he could not work under the Minister for Health either.

It is vital that the Government acts on this and I support the amendment to the Order of Business to have the Minister come to the House to discuss the cuts to home helps. There is also a major overspend in the hospitals that will have an impact on services when adjustments must be made. I simply do not have faith in the Minister to run our health services. He has the Midas touch in reverse, where everything he touches turns into a complete mess. We see that with hospitals up and down the State, including in the Leader's area in Waterford and the south east, with planned hospital reconfiguration and a possible downgrade of Waterford Regional Hospital.

The bigger issue is whether the people trust the Minister and if he is doing what he was elected to do. In my view, he is not and he puts stroke politics front and centre instead of the interests of patients or the people of the State. I reiterate my call, despite the assurances the Leader gave yesterday, which I simply do not accept, for the Minister for Health to resign and if he does not have the stomach or courage to resign himself, he should be sacked by the Taoiseach for his performance as Minister for Health and because he put his own constituency ahead of the wider interests of the people of the State.