McDaid may face face Fianna Fail expulsion after refusing to back Government in cancer vaccine motion

Published Date: 13 November 2008 By Alan Foley Courtesy of The Donegal Democrat

Donegal North East Fianna Fáil Deputy Dr James McDaid may face expulsion from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party after refusing to support the Government in Wednesday night's Dail vote.

Dr McDaid refused to back the Government's stance on Fine Gael's cervical cancer vaccine motion. He abstained from the vote on the Fine Gael motion calling for the vaccination programme to go ahead. He will automatically lose the Party whip as a resu lt.

Dr McDaid said regardless of the current economic climate in the county, he could not support the withdrawal of a life-saving vaccine. He said it passed a death sentence on a certain percentage of 12-year-old girls, and in particular children whose parents couldn't afford to pay for it privately.

"We have a responsibility, in particular, to look after the future health of our children," McDaid said. "Fifty years from now, it will not be important what my bank account was. It will not be important what kind of car I drove, nor will it be important what size of house I lived in.

"But it does matter to me that during my stay in this House, I may have been, just may have been, important in the life of a child.

"Accordingly, I cannot vote for the Government's motion here this evening. I fully realise the implications, but I trust my colleagues will understand that while I am abstaining, I will not be voting per se against them. I just cannot vote against an oath that I took 34 years ago."

The Government won the vote by 76 to 65. Dr McDaid may face expulsion from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party after refusing to support the Government.

Today the Democrat has been inundated with people supporting Dr McDaid's stance

 

FF TD Jim Mc Daid has party whip removed

Nov 13, 12:57 am Courtesy Ocean FM
Donegal Fianna Fail Deputy Jim McDaid is to have the party whip removed from him and is facing the wrath of his colleagues after breaking with the party line on a controversial opposition Dail motion.
Mr Mc Daid abstained on the Fine Gael motion to have suspension of the cervical cancer vaccine for 12 year old girls.
The Government was still carried by 76 votes to 65.
Budget cuts have so far seen the Government lose the support of an Independent TD Finian Mc Grath and a member of FF Joe Behan who resigned from the party.
Deputy Mc Daid told the house that the withdrawal of a life-saving vaccine was not something he could support.

^ Private Members' Business. ^

  ^ Vaccination Programme: Motion. ^ - Dail Eireann  11/11/2008

                 Received by DACC from Deputy Dinny Mc Ginley

   Deputy Dinny McGinley: There were many cutbacks in the recent budget and
 they affected all areas, including agriculture, health, social welfare
and education.  There were cutbacks across the board.  This will cause
   hardship, suffering, loss of income and many types of discomfort.  Of
  all the cutbacks that have been announced, however, this will cause
 devastation to families in the years ahead.  It is probably the harshest
 cut of all.  I do not like to use the term "merciless" but it is a
  merciless cut.  I have no wish to use the term with regard to the
   Minister but that is how I see it.

 I recall watching the television at home last August when it was
 announced that this immunisation programme against a particular form of
 cancer was to be rolled out nationally.  I was delighted.  Furthermore,
being a lay person where medicine is concerned, I was delighted that at
   last there was a vaccine available against one form of cancer.  I
 considered it a great medical breakthrough.  If administered in 2009, as
   the Minister promised, it would save lives in the future.  Each year 70
  to 80 young women die of cervical cancer in this country.  Consider the
  devastation such deaths leave in their wake.  Many of them are young
   mothers with young children still at school.  Consider the devastation
   visited on a family when a mother dies.  There is devastation when a
   parent dies but it is particularly hard when a mother dies.  It is
   unbelievable when somebody is left without their mother.  Anybody who
 has experienced it, and there are many, knows how cruel and inhumane it  is.
  This vaccination programme was announced and everybody was looking
   forward to it.  It was a great breakthrough.  Now, however, it has been
 withdrawn, just to save less than €10 million per annum out of a budget
 of €16 billion.  I have been a Member of this House for many years and I
  never had the privilege of being a Minister or Minister of State but I
 can guarantee that if I, a lay person who did some economics many years
   ago in university, had a half hour with the Health Service Executive, I
   would find savings of €10 million.  It is certainly not beyond the
   competence of the Minister and the people in the HSE to achieve savings
 and proceed with the roll-out of this vaccine.
We will not see the results of this today or next year but in ten or
 20 years, when few of us will still be Members of this House.  Young
 mothers will make the ultimate sacrifice as a result of the vaccine not
  being made available to them.  I ask the Minister to seriously
   re-examine this decision.  We have addressed farmers' meetings, meetings
   on education and other meetings but this is a core issue. 

For that   reason I appeal to you, a Thánaiste-----

   Deputy Mary Harney: She is in the Deputy's constituency; the Deputy
   should know her.
 

Fine Gael Local Press Office Press Statement ( Courtesy of Joe Mc Hugh’s Weekly Summary)

Grier House Contact: Joe McHugh TD

Lower Main St Enda McHugh  Donegal North East

Letterkenny  9123931/ 0861593098

“McHugh welcomes talks on North-West radiotherapy unit”

  Deputy Joe McHugh has welcomed the talks between Mary Harney and Michael McGimpsey, in what he describes as a massive step forward for the North-West.

 He claims that by entering into negotiations with her Northern counterpart, Mary Harney has taken a positive approach to the issue of cancer care in the North-West.

 “This is a major boost for everyone living in the region. I have said for a long time now that the way forward is by entering into dialogue with politicians across the border. By harmonising the health service of both jurisdictions, we can provide quality healthcare for everyone.”

 However, the deputy was adamant that action had to be taken sooner rather than later. “Today the first step has been taken, but it must be followed quickly with the second step, or we could find ourselves playing the waiting game. We’ve waited long enough and I would urge Mary Harney to continue with the initiative she has shown and create a platform to enable us to provide radiotherapy treatment for the people of North-West. Women in Northern Ireland have had access to breastcheck for almost 15 years and it’s important that resources are shared among all border counties.”

He also added, that with further cutbacks being introduced in Galway University Hospital, it was essential that the people of Donegal had access to the proper facilities. “Galway University Hospital have lost more frontline staff, despite the fact that it is supposed to cater for everyone from Galway to Donegal. There is no way it can provide an adequate service with such cutbacks, so it’s up to us in the North-West to ensure that we get the facilities that are required.

 The Fine Gael T.D. insisted that this breakthrough was a result of the great work carried out by members of the DACC and the ‘Co-operating for Cancer Care North-West.’ “These organisations have brought upon themselves to secure better health treatment for the people of this region, and their hard work and dedication must be commended.

Joe McHugh’s first private members speech.

Wednesday 26^th of September.  Cancer care for the North-West

• Today we stand here in a new society, a society where our young people are confident, educated and skilled. They have no doubt in their talents and are striding forward with ease. Our country has produced some of the most skilled graduates in the world.
• But what use is this if they are to die at 40? Is skill and talent alone going to cure the curse of cancer? It seems to me, that this government obviously thinks so.
• 7000 people are dying each year in this country because of cancer. 640 of those die of breast cancer. These are numbers and statistics, but the reality is that these people are not just numbers; they are individuals, individuals leaving behind broken families and heartache.
• The Minister for Health has announced that cancer care is to be centralised, with centres of excellence opening in Cork, Galway, Dublin and Waterford. This is great news, if you live in these parts of the country.

• Once again, this government has failed the people of the North-West. Once again we must admit to ourselves that we are second class citizens. And once again we must watch our loved ones die, needlessly, just because we live in Donegal.
• The minister will use the empty rhetoric that we do not have the critical population mass to justify a satellite centre with a population of 237,108. But if the government were to look at the bigger picture, it would see clearly that a dedicated radiotherapy cancer service for the North West is feasible.
• The North West, which comprises of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry has the critical mass to justify a radiotherapy centre, and I am calling on the Irish government, the HSE and the Northern administration to formulate a road map for this project is to be realised. It is vital that clarity on future plans is provided for the most vulnerable of people who are suffering from cancer.
• The fact of the matter is that the North West needs a radiotherapy unit and I am demanding that the North West gets this unit. The minister has in the past made reference to a plan for Donegal patients to avail of radiotherapy services in Belfast, but this does not provide a long term solution to the problem, it just further highlights the contempt shown to the northern part of our country by our government.

• We have a situation, where a voluntary organisation is providing breast checks for the women of Donegal. We pay the government thousands each year, yet an organisation, which isn’t being paid, is doing a better job than the entire cabinet of this government.

• The key point is that Mary Harney, the HSE and National treatment fund are working as separate autonomous bodies, meaning that no one knows what the other is doing, causing confusion and ultimately, what we have witnessed, chaos.
• Fianna Fail are talking about mergers with the SDLP in the North, perhaps their efforts would be better deployed in creating policy mergers with their Northern counterparts, such as a ‘Health Care provision harmonisation.

• I find it humorous that Fianna Fail wants to set up in Northern Ireland, when it seems clear that they neither think nor care about Donegal, which just as a reminder to them, is in the Republic of Ireland. You may think I’m being flippant on the issue, but I am merely conveying the thoughts of my electorate. An electorate, which is literally sick of empty promises and pledges.
• I am here to battle on behalf of my constituents, constituents who are forced to endure a journey from Donegal to Dublin for treatment; this is both a disgrace and a scandal. Last year, a woman had to endure a 7 hour journey, using petrol stations and pubs for toilet stops; the reality is that live cattle exports to Italy are treated better than cancer patients.
• There is a need to open up our health centres to provide our patients with comfortable breaks on their journey.
• Everyone in the country pays equal taxes and in a fair and just world, everyone would receive equal treatment, but our world is not fair and it is not just. There is only one thing worse than having cancer and it’s having cancer in Donegal

TD welcomes cancer strategy

Health Minister Mary Harney is working with her counterpart in Northern Ireland to ensure that the north-west - the area west of the River Bann and County Donegal - receives the radiotherapy therapy service it deserves, Fianna Fáil's Niall Blaney has told the Dáil.

During a debate on cancer services, Deputy Blaney said he looked forward to Professor Keane taking up his new job of rolling out the cancer centres of excellence. The fiasco in Portlaoise highlighted the need for such centres.

"It is somewhat hypocritical that Deputies opposite call for better quality services when they will not take the crunch when it comes to providing cancer services in hospitals," he said.

"They all want the services to be delivered in their own backyards, which

is not logical. It is mere political opportunism to run around the country calling on party colleagues to organise rallies and it does not help to put in place any of the Minister's proposals."

Deputy Blaney said he was particularly pleased that the Minister had included Letterkenny General Hospital as an outreach facility because Donegal faced significant geographical problems. The Minister had recognised that the county is much further from Galway and Dublin than the people of counties Sligo and Mayo.

"Even though services are now being provided in Letterkenny, people in parts of the county are probably further from Letterkenny hospital than the remotest parts of counties Mayo and Sligo are from Galway," he added. "We should all get real about this issue and have the common sense to stop using it as a political football. Let us treat these proposals with the respect they deserve."

( Courtesy of the Derry Journal 16th Nov 07)

Blaney vows to push for radiotherapy 05.11.07
A Donegal T.D., has vowed to use his membership of a Dáil committee to push for a radiotherapy service in the North West.
Deputy Niall Blaney has been appointed to the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee. He said this role will put him in a good position to lobby for Donegal's health needs.
“I look forward to working on the Health Committee and also to using it to represent the needs of my constituents and the people of the North West," he said.
“Discussions have already commenced between the Government and the Northern Assembly to establish a radiotherapy centre in the North West and I will use my membership of this committee to ensure that this vision is fulfilled.”

( Courtesy of www.inishowennews.com)