I wish to raise a matter of serious concern with the Taoiseach. I am troubled as a public representative and a father because the work we do in this House is supposed to make a difference to people's lives and to impact on them for the better. Today a child lies dead in Cavan. I do not attribute blame in this case but, in extending sympathy to the parents, brothers and sisters of the child, this is another tragic incident in a long line of incidents which have been well flagged in the North Eastern Health Board area by parents, doctors and public representatives. It calls into question political responsibility for the delivery of an effective health service for the people when they need it. That responsibility is currently vested in the Taoiseach's Government, particularly the Minister for Health and Children.

Why has a serious interpersonal row between two consultants over patients in Cavan hospital not been examined six months on? Why has a new wing in Cavan hospital not been opened or fitted out? Why has a mammography unit, paid for by the people, not been unwrapped? Why are serious concerns being expressed about the quality and extent of locum cover in Cavan hospital? Why is serious concern being expressed about the fundamental issue of continuity of care in the North Eastern Health Board area?

Has the time of this House not been taken up on many occasions over recent years by Deputies raising the matter of the delivery of an effective health service in this health board area? Does the Taoiseach accept it is the political responsibility of his Government, particularly the Minister for Health and Children, not to be shamed into action but to see that service is delivered in the interests of the people before another unfortunate incident happens?

Deputy Kenny raised two issues. On the first one, I join him, as I am sure does everyone in the House, in expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of Frances Sheridan who died in the past few days. To respect the privacy of the family, I will not go into the specific circumstances of the case at this time. I understand that the State Pathologist has conducted a post-mortem, the results of which are awaited. My colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, met Mr. Paul Robinson, the chief executive officer of the health board. He was advised by the CEO that the board has established a group to undertake an urgent review of all the factors involved in the death of the child. The scope of the review will cover the period of the child's first contact with Cavan General Hospital on 7 January and her untimely death on 1 February. The membership of the group is Gerry Clerkin of the Cavan-Monaghan Hospital Group and Conor Egleston, a consultant in emergency medicine in Drogheda Hospital.

The second matter raised by Deputy Kenny concerned issues which have arisen in recent months in, as he described it, a personal dispute. A committee of inquiry has been appointed to examine complaints regarding two consultant surgeons in Cavan General Hospital. The two consultants concerned have been suspended without pay since last August, but both have been entitled to apply for ex gratia payments to allay any hardship they may experience.

The recently established committee is the third such committee to be appointed by the Minister for Health and Children on this matter. The reason is that the first committee, established immediately after the suspensions, had to be disbanded due to the withdrawal of the appointed chairman and one of the consultant representatives. The second committee, appointed by the Minister the following month, was disbanded before Christmas due to a perceived conflict of interest of one of the consultant representatives and the subsequent refusal of the second consultant member of the IHCA to continue due, among other reasons, to non-payment of fees for committee work.

The intervening period has been taken up with an extensive exercise to identify consultants without any potential conflict of interest who are willing to represent their colleagues on the committee of inquiry. The IHCA has indicated an unwillingness to submit a list of names to perform this work due to non-payment of fees for its members, despite the Department's willingness to provide locum cover for committee members, to indemnify them against any legal action arising from committee work and to pay travel and subsistence to the consultants concerned. I understand, and the Minister is confident, that the new committee, established with the assistance of retired consultants, will allow the matter to be resolved without any further delay.

As regards other matters in the health board area in question, the Minister has reported to the House extensively on his and the board's responsibilities and ongoing work in that area.

In May 2002, 71,151 people in counties Cavan, Monaghan and Louth voted for the Government on the basis of guarantees given by the Taoiseach and all his candidates that a world-class health service would be delivered in which waiting lists would be ended inside two years. This was one of the principal reasons people voted for the Government. Is it not patently obvious that the Minister for Health and Children has failed in his political responsibility to deliver on this commitment and promise?

Does the Taoiseach agree that all incidents of this nature, tragic though this one is, lead to a public perception that people in the district in question are gambling with their lives when they seek effective health care? Regardless of whether the issue is management, mismanagement or resources, political responsibility stops at the desk of the Minister for Health and Children. He has not lived up to this responsibility and that is a matter over which the Taoiseach is in charge. I want a guarantee from the Taoiseach, in so far as it is possible for him to give one, that he will see to it that the public and patients are not pawns in the rows which take place and that the Minister for Health and Children deals with this, the latest in a sad series of tragic incidents which have lowered public confidence and lessened the impact politics is supposed to have on the lives of people. This is what troubles me greatly today.

Every day, the Government, the Minister for Health and Children, his Department, the health boards, and almost 100,000 people who work in the health service try to do precisely what Deputy Kenny has requested. If he is asking if we will continue to do this and provide resources of €10.5 billion, much of which is being used to improve infrastructure in the health service, we will continue to do so.

I do not want to link local problems in any way with the circumstances of the death of Frances Sheridan, of which I am not aware and will not be aware until the State Pathologist has completed her report. We will then have to deal with that issue but I do not want to relate it to what is going on between two consultants in Cavan General Hospital who cannot get along with each other for some reason. I do not know the details of a tiff they have been having over something for the past six months. None of their colleagues is prepared, for one reason or another, to get involved in investigating the matter but at least we have reached that stage now.

I was not aware of the blow-by-blow issues. I received a full report yesterday on all the meetings which have taken place and the other circumstances regarding this issue. The Minister, who was dealing with the tragic death of Frances Sheridan today, has endeavoured to set up a third committee to investigate this matter and has given every possible cover to the consultants and others involved to try to deal with the issue. I do not know what the argument is about but I will do my best to solve it.

It is time the Taoiseach did know.