Senators have asked questions about health issues. The Minister for Health will be in the House next week for the debate on the Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill and the questions raised could be addressed by way of amendments on Committee Stage. I ask Members to examine aspects such as the new accountancy procedures in the HSE and submit amendments to elicit details about financial matters in the executive. I am sure the Minister will be here for Committee Stage of the Bill which is part of the process of reform and that he will continue to reform the system.

Senator Jim D'Arcy and several other Members asked about the reform of the junior certificate programme. When the Minister for Education and Skills was in the House, he dealt with that subject. There have been requests for him to answer questions on several education issues, including third level education. He will be here on 23 October as part of the pre-budget process and will deal with education issues then. There will be ample time for questions from Senators on such matters as reform of the junior certificate programme.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh recited a long list of negative aspects of the health service.

Does the Leader dispute them?

To coin a phrase used by Fianna Fáil, " A lot done, more to do". I agree with the Senator that waiting times to be seen by consultants are unacceptable and the Minister agrees. I have asked him to highlight the point about the number of patients who do not attend for their appointments with consultants. I checked the figures for Waterford Regional Hospital. In 2011 a total of 16,000 failed to attend for their appointments. In the year to August, over 9,000 have not attended for their appointments. This means that approximately 25,000 others could have been seen, which would have made a significant dent in hospital waiting lists.