At the outset, I acknowledge the Taoiseach’s visit to Washington. I think he handled it very diplomatically. He defended what he needed to defend and he said what he needed to say. Overall, the Government’s St. Patrick’s Day programme internationally, across Europe, the United States and other parts of the world, has gone exceptionally well. The benefit of this is significant.

I listened with great interest to Senator Ryan talking about cancer services in the mid-west. I came in here with the intention of calling for a debate specifically on cancer services, the national cancer strategy and cancer in general because it is the daffodil period. I believe Daffodil Day is next week. So many citizens suffer from cancer and so many survive cancer now because of that significant improvement in treatments, services and supports. I share concerns that it is not geographically equal. It depends on where people are living in the country. We saw this particularly in relation to Donegal and the situation with the flights. In the mid-west, certainly, the system is great once you get into it, but the geographical challenges in getting into the system are a problem. We need to look at equality in terms of availability and access in a significant way.

I also welcome the announcement of the purchase of 43 acres in Raheen. Of course, I would love to have seen that happening in Ennis but I am a realist and I understand that healthcare has to be regional. It is a shame that it was not done 20 years ago when “configuration” was the buzzword at the time, and we would not be where we are today. It does, though, present us with an opportunity to build a state-of-the-art, world-class facility. I sincerely hope that does happen, because I am convinced that when the children’s hospital is opened and the people of Ireland see the services, supports and accommodation there, they will believe it is value for money. I would like to see the same happen in our region of the mid-west, namely, that eventually out of the suffering of the people in the mid-west in terms of access, particularly access to emergency care, we would see a world-class facility we can all stand over and that will benefit the health of the people of my region.