I welcome the Taoiseach back from his sojourn in Europe. I am delighted to take this first opportunity to question him across the floor of the House. I was very interested in his last replies to Deputy Gerry Adams, because I happen to represent one of those places - that is, Tipperary South, which includes part of west Waterford. We have suffered as a result of this cronyism. Fine Gael and its colleagues in the Labour Party promised us a new beginning and an era of greater transparency, honesty and integrity. It must have all washed down the Liffey in the recent floods, because what we are seeing now is the worst type of political cronyism. The HSE boss at the time, Cathal Magee, and Brian Gilroy, with whom I have an excellent relationship, knew nothing about this. Clinicians and other hospital practitioners in the south east region knew nothing either.

We were all buying into the idea, as we were told by the last Government and the HSE, that the way forward was through the development of centres of excellence, one of which would be located at Waterford Regional Hospital.

All the consultants and everybody down to the porters bought into this and were working towards that. We let services go, as did Kilkenny, Wexford and Clonmel in the case of South Tipperary General Hospital, so that we would have the centre of excellence in Waterford. We heard rumours before Christmas that there was a change of plan and that Kilkenny might align itself with Dublin. We received assurances from the Minister that this was not true. Thanks to our good journalists who made the enquiries under FOI, we found out that political cronyism was flying at its best. We never saw anything like it before. The Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Public Expenditure and Reform had contacted the Minister for Health and were pulling at the hems all the time. Will the Taoiseach give us a guarantee that he will stop and out this? I know the two of them came to the Taoiseach's rescue and saved his bacon two years ago but this is not fair to the people of the south east or any other region who want patient care and not political slush funds in which the Government is involved in respect of the HSE and its funding with an eye to the next election because it knows its policies have failed in so many other areas, as was referred to recently in respect of the EU.

The Deputy is over time.

We cannot have this. Can the Taoiseach give us an guarantee that the people served by South Tipperary General Hospital and people in the Waterford region will have the services to which they are entitled and that it will not simply be through the efforts of a Minister that a person is treated in a hospital? This is outrageous. The deeds of past Ministers condemned by the Government when it was in opposition pale into insignificance in comparison with it. Those in government are fast learners.

That would be a good speech from the back of a trailer outside Clonmel. I am glad to see the foremost member of the investigative troika in full flight. Compliments to him on his tie. My visit to Davos was not a sojourn, rather, it was a working visit that involved meeting international business leaders and politicians. The dividends will speak for themselves in due course. The Deputy mentioned cronyism and NewERA, for which legislation is on its way.

Order please.

In respect of the difference of opinion between the Deputy and me regarding the meaning of NewERA, in June 2012, the Minister for Health appointed Professor John Higgins to chair a strategic group on the establishment of hospital groups. That board has representatives with both national and international experience in health service delivery, governance and linkages with academic institutions, which are part of progress for the future. The establishment of these trusts is a complex matter and there is an obvious need for communication and direct dialogue with all the organisations and individuals involved. Over 70 meetings have taken place as part of the process of establishing initial hospital groups. I expect the Minister for Health to be in a position to decide on an administrative basis the setting up of these groups inside the next month pending the introduction of the legislation. Before the trusts are legally established, the functioning of the groups must be reviewed and if changes prove necessary, they will be made with Government approval. Clearly, there are different views in the south east. It is an issue of concern from both the political and medical perspectives and relationships between various institutions and personnel all come into these discussions. I expect the Minister to be in a position to finalise that and the other groups around the country in the next four weeks.

I am disappointed with the Taoiseach's reply. How many front-line service staff does Professor Higgins's group include? The answer is none. The people in the south east are working towards the reconfiguration and the centre of excellence in Waterford Regional Hospital in Ardkeen. This has been the template for the past number of years. Will the Taoiseach allow the Minister for Health to wreck that, put people's lives in danger and put the constituents of different Ministers first? We have seen it recently with the distribution of national lottery funds in Wexford. Is this Government aware of the medical and economic consequences of the proposed realignment of hospital services?

Professor Higgins believes his loyalty is to Cork. He also sees a spin off from South Tipperary General Hospital to Cork if Waterford is gone.

That is not true.

The people of the south east will not take this. The Taoiseach should not insult the staff and services in St. Luke's Hospital and in Wexford by saying-----

On a point of order.

There will be no points of order. This is Leaders' Questions. I ask Deputy Buttimer to resume his seat.

Deputy Mattie McGrath has named an individual who is not in the House to defend himself and who is acting for a Government of all hues. I ask the Deputy to withdraw the remark.

This is Leaders' Questions. I ask Deputy Buttimer to resume his seat.

I ask the Deputy to withdraw his remark.

I ask Deputy Buttimer to resume his seat. We will deal with this. I ask Deputy Mattie McGrath to conclude. This is Leaders' Questions.

Deputy Buttimer is outrageous.

I ask Deputy Mattie McGrath to conclude as his time is up.

I remind Deputy Buttimer that it was the Taoiseach who first named Professor Higgins.

Deputy Mattie McGrath should withdraw the remark.

Deputy Buttimer is not in the health committee waving his hammer.

I ask Deputy Buttimer to resume his seat.

He is not in the health committee to dictate for three days and lay down the law. He is in the Dáil Chamber now. It was the Taoiseach who first named Professor Higgins and not me.

Deputy McGrath is over time.

I accept that. It is a pity he is insulting the work of the wonderful medical staff in Kilkenny and Wexford by saying they were operating in Portakabins and rented huts. The Taoiseach knows better than I do that this is not true and is an insult to the staff.

On a point of order, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle must reprimand Deputy Buttimer. That was an outrageous intervention.

I ask the Deputy to resume his seat. This is Leaders' Questions and there will be no points of order. I call on the Taoiseach.

Deputy Martin will have to defend "Fianna Fáil Lite" behind him.

The rationale behind the restructuring of the health system is to establish hospital groups to allow for increased operational autonomy within those groups and to have accountability for hospital services that will drive the service reforms and give the best possible outcome for patients. This is all part of the process of leading to a system where money follows the patient and where we introduce universal health insurance at the end of the process. I deplore Deputy McGrath's comment about Professor John Higgins. I do not intend in any way to offer any insult to the hardworking staff in the south east. They do their job on the front line, as one would expect them to do. The process has involved over 70 meetings. It is never easy to get agreement and consent between any institutions much less in the health area but I hope the Minister will be in a position to conclude on the groupings for the south east. I am not getting into speculation, allegations or rumours about what that might entail.

In respect of Deputy McGrath's comment about the national lottery, each county was given a proportionate amount which is open, transparent and very clear unlike the situation that applied when the Opposition was over here where secret arrangements were made with the Government that were not subject to FOI and where nobody could find out the price of the Government's support every Wednesday when it was needed. The next time the Opposition is back on troika duty, it should make its questions a little more succinct.