I welcome the wonderful co-operation between the trustees of Muckross House and the National Parks and Wildlife Service on many matters.

Where is Muckross House?

I thought the Senator understood where it is.

Do tell us?

It is in Killarney.

It is outside the M50.

It is in Killarney.

Muckross House is located by the side of the lake.

Please do not tease the Senator for representing the Kingdom.

The house is beside Middle Lake or Muckross Lake.

It is outside the main house.

Senator Norris, I will gladly take him there again.

I have been.

I know he has.

I was not.

I simply want to mark the occasion whereby the two entities cooperated to allow a famous Jack B. Yeats painting of the then lady of the house to be purchased at Sotheby's of London some time back. Neither party could have purchased it on their own but together they managed to do so. The painting is very interesting because it was Jack B. Yeats-----

I am surprised that the Senator did not purchase it himself.

No.

Was the painting by Jack B. or John B?

It was Jack B. It was his first big commission in 1872.

That was John B.

I am sorry, John B.

It must be John B. who was the father of Jack B.

I stand corrected.

I thought so as Jack B. did not do portraiture.

The correction is noted.

The painting was completed in 1873 because the work was postponed due to the death of his son Robert "Bobbie" Butler Yeats. The painting depicts the lady of the house sitting in the gunroom of Muckross House with her Maltese terrier. The chair on which she sat and the wallpaper depicted in the painting are still in the house. Apparently, when the painting was finished the woman's husband and lord of the manor refused to take the painting because she had absconded with one of the staff.

Scoundrel.

It was alleged to have been the footman and she never returned.

Yahoo.

Good for her.

Very democratic of her.

RTÉ had better record this.

Good girl.

The portrait survived because it ended up with a friend of the painter, Mr. Edward Dowden at Trinity College Dublin. Following Mr. Dowden's death the painting was returned to the Yeats family.

Headline news.

The painting was auctioned and was successfully bought. Now it will hang where originally intended.

Splendid.

I look forward to the first official visit to Killarney by the newly appointed Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Josepha Madigan, when the painting will be officially hung. Please God, her visit will take place soon.

I want to raise an issue that has come into the public domain in the past few days. I refer to the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, being invited to carry out an investigation into an incident that took place in one of the maternity hospitals, which has now ended up in the courts. I want to raise concerns about the way we have dealt with some of the issues that relate to medical care.

In the past three to four weeks I have met members of the medical profession ranging from GPs to junior doctors to medical consultants. The one worrying aspect to emerge was that medicine in this country now operates in a defensive mode. In the past 12 months we have paid out €80 million for medical negligence claims in maternity care. That shows we have a huge challenge.

In 2003, a report set out that by 2012 we should have 180 medical consultants working in obstetrics-gynaecology. Instead, we currently have 130 whole-time equivalents. Now because of the level of litigation and complaints, more and more people who are very good medical practitioners are drifting away from working in the area. Such a situation has caused a major problem. It means that even if a vacant consultant position does arise the post will not be filled. We need to face up to this challenge now. We have 130 consultants when we should have 180. Even if we try to replace consultants by bringing in ten new consultants per annum, the measure will not replace the number of consultants who retire. We must tackle the demands being placed on hospital services as regards making sure that we give adequate support to the people who work on the front line.

Previously, I raised the fact that the HSE had no problem employing an extra 2,000 administration and management staff. However, it appears to have a difficulty giving the necessary support to people who are working on the front line. We face a very big challenge and, unless we confront it in the next three to four years, we will not have people to fill the roles of medical doctors or even nurses. One hospital has lost 250 maternity nurses in the past four to five years because they have left the hospital system. This is a major challenge. We should debate it and deal with it.