The Minister for Social Protection was certainly handed a poisoned chalice this morning when she was obliged to come before the House to defend the indefensible. It could be stated that to lose one Minister of State is unfortunate but to lose two is certainly careless. I take the opportunity to pay tribute to Deputy Róisín Shortall for taking a courageous decision and for standing by her and her party's policies. Last night she stated the public had a right to expect that decisions on health infrastructure and staffing would be made in the public interest and based on health needs rather than being driven by other concerns.

The question must be asked as to where the Labour Party stands within the Government. When will those in the Labour Party accept that health policy is being led by clientelism and driven towards privatisation by their bosses in government? Primary health care centres such as that at Ballaghaderreen which are not even in the top 200 on the priority list have now been prioritised. These centres are to be delivered by means of public private partnerships, PPPs, which are licences to print money.

I wish to put to the Minister for Social Protection the questions posed by Deputy Róisín Shortall in the House last week. To date, she has clearly refused to answer any of them. Is the Government intent on reforming and strengthening the public health service or does it intend to privatise large parts of it? How will it ensure access to and equity within the health service will be guaranteed? Is this the type of health service the Government wants for the people? In its election manifesto the Labour Party claimed that it would reform the unfair, two-tier health system in order to reduce the cost of delivering care and use the savings realised as a result to extend universal access to essential medical care. Will the Minister for Social Protection inform us now, once and for all, that this promise is dead? How can any other Labour Minister of State hope to deliver on these promises when he or she will not even be able to rely on the support of his or her party leader?

As is the case with every other Member of the House, I respect the Deputy's mandate.

I respect the mandate of every Member of this House. This is my first opportunity to congratulate Deputy Pringle on the events of the weekend concerning Donegal. It is great to see the Deputy here.

I attended two important and well-attended meetings of the Labour Party - the national executive and the general council - whose members are drawn from every part of the country. The party members in both groups discussed health and all the matters facing the Labour Party in government. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, was fulsome in his support of Deputy Róisín Shortall and fulsome in his commendation of her achievements. Those achievements, both in opposition and as a member of the Government for the past 18 months will still remain when the personality clashes are forgotten and there will be a network of 20 to 35 primary care centres around the country.

I appreciate Deputy Pringle's remarks about public-private partnerships. However, because of Ireland's weak borrowing capacity it is not possible at the moment to have commercially viable PPPs. This is part of the problem and one of the reasons the list would have been expanded in order to provide for more viable options to complete the minimum number of 20 clinics in the timeframe. PPPs in Ireland are not an attractive mechanism to the financial markets at this time. When we get back our economic sovereignty we will be able to borrow and then be in a position to provide all 35 clinics. In the meantime, when negotiating with general practitioners in private practice in all parts of the country, our objective is to ensure that as many citizens as possible in all parts of the country will have access to modern general practitioner facilities which will provide testing facilities, paramedical services, physiotherapy and counselling services, all types of services above and beyond what the traditional GP and practice nurse in a traditional practice setting can provide. This is a significant reform in the provision of health care. Users of the health services or those who help older people to avail of services are well aware of the importance of this achievement. I am confident this will be achieved by this Government and it has been prioritised for spending purposes even when money is tight. In my view, this will be to the credit of the Minister, Deputy Reilly, the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

That was a nice speech from the Minister but it did not answer any of my questions. Deputy Shortall has clearly shown that the emperor has no clothes. On four occasions in public the Tánaiste could not express his support for Deputy Shortall and her stance. It is true that people will have access to primary medical care, provided they are in the Minister's constituency or they have his ear or a clinic has been jumped up the list of more than 200 locations and is included in the top 35.

This Government has been in power for the past 18 months and the Labour Party has not even succeeded in having powers of responsibility delegated to the junior Minister with responsibility for primary care. How can Deputy Shortall's replacement in the Department expect to be able to deliver on any equitable health policy, particularly when he or she will have to deal with a senior Minister who stated last night that pressure is only for tyres? How can junior Ministers deliver? Is there any point in the Labour Party appointing a replacement?

None whatsoever.

Deputy Shortall's replacement is a matter for the leader of the Labour Party, the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore and I am sure he will deal with that matter as quickly as possible. I wish to emphasise again that the outcome of this policy will be a win-win situation for communities right around Ireland -----

Sorry, there is no need to get excited.

The life of Reilly here.

At a time of serious economic problems the Government has provided this economic stimulus which it is hoped will put local people to work in the different locations around the country. As economic conditions improve, my hope and my answer to the Deputy's question will be that our ambition is to provide not just 20 centres but 35 centres right around the country. This is a transformative initiative for the health services and that has been Deputy Shortall's achievement. She has provided the basis for getting community care up and running in this country through a network of purpose-built community care centres which will provide the full range-----

Why did she resign?

-----so that people need not go to hospital for tests or have to stay in hospital while undergoing tests because this is where costs are incurred and everyone knows this. That need will be reduced and there will be services on the ground which will allow so much more to be done at a local level.