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20/10/2010
Senator Furious At Harney 'No Show'
A Labour Senator has this morning described her fury at the failure of Health Minister Mary Harney to face Senator's questions on the health service.
Labour Senator Phil Prendergast said the Senate has wasted around €75,000 waiting for Mary Harney to "dodge questions" during a debate on the HSE that took 15 weeks to conclude.
Speaking this morning, Ms Prendergast said: "The Health Minister was due to answer senator's questions about the conduct of the HSE in a debate which began on June 16th. But following several aimless speeches from Fianna Fáil senators, the debate was halted without notice.
"Eventually the debate resumed on September 29th - 15 weeks after it began - but the Minister was a no-show, so many questions went unanswered."
Ms Prendergast said the Leader of the House twice promised Mary Harney would return before the summer recess to answer the questions put to her but that didn't happen.
The Senator's comments come just as Mary Harney revealed she expects up to €1bn will be removed from the Health Service Executive's budget next year.
However, it will not be easy for the Minister to find savings as 70% of the health budgetis spent on pay, which is protected by the Croke Park deal.
However, adding some irony this morning, Senator Prenergast observed that as the Seanad costs an estimated €200,000 a day to run, the three-hour debate without the Minister responsible cost the taxpayer €75,000, to arrive at no conclusion.
(DW)
Labour Senator Phil Prendergast said the Senate has wasted around €75,000 waiting for Mary Harney to "dodge questions" during a debate on the HSE that took 15 weeks to conclude.
Speaking this morning, Ms Prendergast said: "The Health Minister was due to answer senator's questions about the conduct of the HSE in a debate which began on June 16th. But following several aimless speeches from Fianna Fáil senators, the debate was halted without notice.
"Eventually the debate resumed on September 29th - 15 weeks after it began - but the Minister was a no-show, so many questions went unanswered."
Ms Prendergast said the Leader of the House twice promised Mary Harney would return before the summer recess to answer the questions put to her but that didn't happen.
The Senator's comments come just as Mary Harney revealed she expects up to €1bn will be removed from the Health Service Executive's budget next year.
However, it will not be easy for the Minister to find savings as 70% of the health budgetis spent on pay, which is protected by the Croke Park deal.
However, adding some irony this morning, Senator Prenergast observed that as the Seanad costs an estimated €200,000 a day to run, the three-hour debate without the Minister responsible cost the taxpayer €75,000, to arrive at no conclusion.
(DW)
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