John Gormley

Mr. Gormley: The Tánaiste stated in her address: “Every piece of the jigsaw to address accident and emergency department problems is in place: the analysis, the resources, the reform programme, the management, the targets, and the incentives.”  As the father of two children under the age of eight, I have experience of jigsaws.  When I look at the health service, I do not see a jigsaw puzzle that has its pieces in place but one which has its pieces all over the living room floor and which must be cleaned up and put in place, perhaps by the next Government.  The Tánaiste described the situation as a crisis and a national emergency.  However, what we got from her today was an exercise in spin.  It was self-serving, self-congratulatory rhetoric.  The previous Government spun its way out of this problem prior to the previous general election and got away with it.
  I hope the Tánaiste is not about to leave the Chamber just as I am getting into my stride. (more…)

Mr. Gormley: It was interesting to listen to Professor Drumm this morning at the Joint Committee on Health and Children, who told us we had fewer elderly people in Ireland as compared to the United Kingdom.  The reason was given to us a few months ago by Dr. Sean Barrett from Trinity College Dublin, who said Ireland had the benefit of what he called a “demographic bounce”, in that many Irish citizens who would be old at this stage had emigrated in the past to the United Kingdom.  The economy benefited as a result, because the elderly cost money.  In general people spend more money on health in their final years than in the whole of their previous life.  That has helped this country economically, and yet what we see from this debacle is that those who have contributed enormously to Irish society were exploited.  The most vulnerable people in society were basically robbed by the State.  The Minister for Health and Children tried to rectify and justify this, and she was rightly shot down by the Supreme Court. (more…)

Mr. Gormley: The European Council meeting of 23-24 March this year was very important, discussing as it did the defining issue of our age, namely, energy consumption and the effect that can have on the way we live. I am referring to the concept of global warming. We need to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by about 60% to 80%. We are currently 25% above 1990 levels, much higher than our Kyoto commitments. That will result in fines which industry probably will not pay, but which the taxpayer will have to foot. That is what we are facing. There is no free lunch when it comes to global warming. It is something we have to face up to.
The Minister believes that we can put our heads in the sand. He is backing people and has a sweetheart deal with CRH, as Deputy Quinn has said. These people are building inferior housing around this country. We are consuming vast amounts of fuel in transport, building more motorways and there are a million and a half more cars. That is unsustainable. (more…)

Mr. Gormley: I am substituting for Deputy Cuffe.  The last time I did so was rather eventful and I hope, for my sake and that of the Minister, that today will be less exciting.
  We are critical of the hotchpotch approach of the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, which throws everything into the mix.  It attempts to legislate for a broad range of issues, from the use of fireworks and drug trafficking offences to torture, anti-social behaviour and the Children Act 2001.  It is wholly inappropriate that such a wide range of issues be dealt with under one Bill.  My colleague, Deputy Cuffe, is critical of the undemocratic manner in which the Minister is forcing this legislation through the House without allowing Members to digest fully the 255 pages of draft amendments he has tabled.  Deputy Cuffe believes this to be unacceptable. (more…)

 Mr. Gormley: By the middle of the century, it is projected that one quarter of the population will be aged 65 and over.  This demographic trend presents challenges and opportunities for the State and for society.  Ireland is in a good position to deal with these challenges and opportunities.  As a relatively late developer in demographic terms, we can learn from experiences in other EU countries.  Moreover, we can harness our recent economic development to help provide a future in which older persons are treated as equal citizens.  This presents us with great challenges in regard to our health service and nursing homes.  We have an ageing population.  People are living longer.  We now have the technology and the medicine in our hospitals to help people live longer.  That takes extra money, but we should not deal with that in terms of equity release, which was referred to by previous speakers.  The Government is again going down the Progressive Democrats neo-liberal line, allowing the party to dictate policy in this area.  It is quite scandalous that the Government will force people—– (more…)

   Mr. Gormley: When I became a Member almost nine years ago the revelations regarding the former Minister, Ray Burke, surfaced.  It is important to cast our minds back to that time.  I have the distinction of being the first Deputy to call for the resignation of the former Minister, Ray Burke.  At the time a commentator said to me that it was a low blow.  It was not, it was the truth.  I remember a Fianna Fail backbencher, a fairly decent bloke, standing up and asking me if I was trying to tell him that if somebody put £30,000 on a table in front of me that I would not take it.  I said I would not.  He rolled his eyes up to heaven and walked off.  That says something about the culture of the time.  It says that the person who does not take money is the oddball and that it would be quite human to take the money. (more…)

Mr. Gormley: I welcome the women of Patient Focus to the Dáil and congratulate them on their courage and tenacity in pursuing this issue.  They sought only truth and justice but their struggle is not yet over.  We will have no closure, truth or justice until all the women who suffered can tell their story and be properly compensated.
  I welcome the fine report from Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clark and the clarity of its presentation, for which I thank her.  The Tánaiste is familiar with the Department of Finance and is aware this Department controls the purse strings.  I do not wish them to engage in insensitive penny pinching and I want the Tánaiste to bang the table and represent these women to ensure they are adequately compensated. (more…)

  Mr. Gormley:  I thank the Fine Gael Party for bringing this motion before the House.  Yesterday in the House we spoke about the new trend towards privatisation in the health service.  There is a section of the health service, however, which has been privatised for quite some time, namely, the nursing home area.  It is a lucrative business.  I would say to Deputy Sexton who has left that it really is a business and not a vocation for this new breed of entrepreneurs which might as well be selling carpets or second-hand cars for all the sensitivity shown sometimes to the elderly and most vulnerable people in our community. (more…)

 Mr. Gormley: The major question which still must be addressed - this will be done in Salzburg at the Sound of Europe conference - is where to now with the constitution for Europe.  Last week in Berlin Mr. de Villepin addressed the Humboldt University and outlined how France was progressing with the constitution.  His statements are interesting in the context of what Deputy Rabbitte stated.  Mr. de Villepin clearly stated that questions arise regarding full membership of the EU for Bulgaria and Romania.  That will be a major point unless we can sort out the constitution.  Mr. Balkenende from the Netherlands clearly stated that it is a non-runner to give the same constitution back to the Dutch people.  However, Mr. Sarkozy argues that perhaps part one could be taken and passed through the French Parliament.  People are at sixes and sevens on the issue. (more…)

Deputy Gormely made this statement regarding world trade and about the sustainability of developing countries.

Mr. Gormley: While I agree with Deputy Carey that trade liberalisation does not necessarily benefit developing countries, I do not agree that Paul Wolfowitz is the best person to cite on the issue of helping the poorest people on the planet.  Mr. Wolfowitz is a paragon of the neoliberal philosophy which has resulted in an increasing gap between rich and poor.  The best way to address the problems of the developing countries is to examine some of the solutions they have put forward.
  Aspects of recent World Trade Organisation agreements, particularly the agreement on agriculture, AoA, have had negative impacts on developing countries.  The greatest negative effect of trade liberalisation in this area has taken the form of agricultural goods being dumped on developing countries by developed countries and other developing countries.  Two measures proposed by developing countries within the AoA negotiations are special products - SP - designation and special safeguard mechanism, SSM.  These are designed to protect developing countries by safeguarding their food security and rural development interests. 
  Special products, SPs, should be exempt from tariff reductions and should not be subject to restricting conditions.  Developing countries should have the right and flexibility to declare for themselves specific SPs with respect to their own food security, livelihood security and rural development objectives.  The criteria for selection of SPs should include the contribution to trade; the contribution to agricultural production; the link to livelihood, for example, the number of citizens employed in making products predominantly produced by low-income, small-scale farmers; and the link to food security, for example, the contribution to citizens’ calorie intake.
  In the long term, we must change the development model in terms of the respective roles of developed and developing countries.  The current system is simply not sustainable.  When I attended the summit on sustainability, it seemed clear that the elites in developing countries want to buy into the globalisation model.  It is the wrong way to go, however.  The global growth rate of some 1.4% annually may continue for 20 years, by which time the supply of conventional oil will be gone.  How then will developing countries export their produce?  This has not been factored into the equation, perhaps not even by the NGOs which support developing nations.
  This is what my party tried to convey yesterday when we talked about global warming and climate change.  I ask the Government to address this important problem.  India and China are growing by some 10% annually.  It is not sustainable.