John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Most days when one comes to work here one is glad and proud to be Irish. Unfortunately, however, yesterday was not one of those days. The day was punctuated by the McAleese report, which is an indictment of not just politics, politicians and Governments but also society in general. It goes to show that we should not always run with the conventional wisdom or herd mentality of the day about what is right or best for people. It underscores for Senators the importance of speaking out at the time, not retrospectively.

The McAleese report on the Magdalen laundries is a sordid and shameful chapter in Irish history. The hurt, harm and horror inflicted on these women is an indictment of all of us. We should not add insult to injury now by equivocating in any way. I second the call by Labour Youth and Labour Women for the Government to apologise unreservedly to these women. The Taoiseach is a kind, caring and compassionate man. Whoever is advising him that it would be unwise to apologise is not correct. He should go with his heart on this matter. The people of this country would be thankful to him if he apologised to the Magdalen women on behalf of the State.

This Government has been in office for two years. It is two years since both the Labour Party and Fine Gael promised to radically reform our health services. I believe we have, perhaps, taken two steps forward and three steps backward. Unfortunately, we still have a two-tier system in which the people who get the best and earliest care are those who can pay the most. As we have seen from the recent hike in VHI fees, more people are dropping out of the private system and putting pressure and a further burden on the public system, leading to longer queues and longer delays. I am not surprised. I do not know how the system works at all. A constituent reported to me that they received a folio from the VHI which stated that an ambulance that transported a woman from the midlands to a hospital in Dublin cost ¤1,900. No system can sustain that.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Health, who has a thankless task, to the House to set out his vision and strategy for how the reforms will proceed. Senator Eamonn Coghlan raised an interesting point yesterday. Money is being stripped from productive hospitals that are doing a good job while hospitals that are not as effective and productive are being rewarded. We have been promised radical reform in terms of the appointment of multidisciplinary teams, but that has not happened. Furthermore, 18 months later I am still waiting for the Minister to make an announcement about community nursing homes, particularly with regard to hospitals such as those in Abbeyleix and Shane, Portlaoise. People need to know where they stand. It would be welcome if the Minister for Health came to the House, set out his stall, told us what progress has been made and explained the roadmap and timeframe for the other reforms.