John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am more used to taking orders now.

When a Government stuffs a letter into every post box in a constituency stating that a hospital service will not be closed but then goes ahead and does it within the first six months of assuming office, and when it comes in here and states that one of the five key points of its policy is that it will bring in universal health insurance and then starts back-tracking and finally announces four years later that it found out three years ago it could never do it because the real Government, the permanent Civil Service, said it was not feasible, that is similar to a bunch of turkeys telling the butcher that Christmas dinner will not be feasible this year. This is a reform we were promised, that the Government was elected on and that people like me endorsed it on. Unlike my gentle colleague, Senator Cullinane, I will propose an amendment to the Order of Business so that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, can come into the House to outline this one key failed reform, which would have had more of an impact on the lives of citizens than any banking inquiry.