Last week I raised the issue of the establishment of the boundary commission on local government. I was pleased to note that on Thursday the commission was established and the terms of reference were announced. Today I want to raise the issue of local government again and I have a question for the Acting Leader. In the next hour hundreds of ordinary citizens from Waterford city will march on the gates of Leinster House in the Waterford Gives a Shirt campaign.

Gives a what?

Waterford Gives a Shirt.

Thank you.

The Senator thought I said something else.

Senator Landy without interruption.

This campaign has been organised by ordinary citizens of Waterford city. I am sure Senator Cullinane is well aware of the campaign and I am sure he will be supporting it, as I will. The campaign questions why the Minister of the Environment, Community and Local Government chose to close down Waterford City Council. I want to question the Minister on the rationale for closing the boroughs and large councils throughout the country which are functioning very well. The ordinary people of Waterford have decided to donate a shirt, the last thing they have on their back, as a way of bringing their campaign to the gates of Leinster House. In Waterford, the regional hospital is being threatened, the IDA has been moved to Cork and the VEC is to be wound up. Waterford is the gateway to the south east. I live very close to Waterford city in a neighbouring constituency. We have looked to the critical mass of the gateway of the south east for the provision of foreign direct investment to the south east, which will impinge favourably on surrounding constituencies. The IDA has moved to Cork and so have all the recent job announcements. This is a plea from the people of the city of Waterford. Will the Acting Leader ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government what is the rationale for abolishing Waterford City Council and allowing Galway City Council to stay in place?

None.

Hear, hear.

Is it a geographical issue or has it been done with a proper and objective rationale?

I am delighted that the people of Waterford are responding at long last to the removal of a fine city council. It is great for a city to have a council and mayor to represent it at home and abroad. It is outrageous and about time the people of Waterford took action. They have been very quiet.

I support the views of Senator Darragh O'Brien on the inquiry into the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, and the concerns of her husband, Praveen, must be taken into account in this regard. It is a very serious situation and I fully concur with Senator O'Keeffe in her views. She spoke very well and the Minister should listen to what she said about the first inquiry which should have been carried out by now as it happened over a month ago.

I am a former chairman of the Western Health Board, and people tend to forget that University College Hospital, Galway, has provided tremendous maternity services. I know from personal experience it is one of the top maternity hospitals in Ireland. This is a tragedy, which is why it grabbed the attention of the country. There is another side to the coin with regard to what has been achieved in the hospital. The quicker the inquiry is carried out, with the approval of the husband, the better. The Government must go back to the drawing board and decide what action will be taken because the issue will not go away. Senator Darragh O'Brien outlined what our view has been from the very start. What happened in Galway has wide implications for every expectant mother and must be resolved. Senator O'Keeffe should send her submission to the Minister immediately if she has not done so already. If he follows the detailed proposal she put forward he would be well advised.