How can we feel good about our booming economy when elderly parents must struggle with a mentally handicapped son or daughter because there are nothing like enough residential places? How can we feel good about our society when home help workers, who are vital to our health services, are being paid under £2 an hour ?

- Ms Roisin Shortall (Labour)

Over 30,000 patients are waiting on hospital lists at the moment . . . because they are poor, they are denied medical attention to the point when some of them die as a result of their poverty.

- Ms Liz McManus (DL)

A huge number of people benefit every year from the availability of quality health and personal social services. Shortage and deficiencies exist in most health services, many of which absorb much greater amounts of money than our own.

- The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen