I hope the committee can make a positive input. I am concerned about the tone of today's meeting so far. It was agreed yesterday that the meeting we were to have this morning would deal with the Labour Party's motion, Fianna Fáil's motion and Fine Gael's amendment. A totally different discussion has been initiated this morning. We have not dealt with the substance of any of the motions. I suggest that if we are to make progress, we need to concentrate on the substance of the motions.
We all agree that we want to find a resolution. We do not want the change to go ahead on 1 March next. That was my opinion before yesterday's meeting, but I was convinced of it when I heard what was said at the meeting. My opinion was strengthened further when I read the e-mail circulated by Deputy Calleary this morning. In the e-mail in question, the managing director of United Drug, which is a pharmaceutical wholesaler, states:
From our extensive knowledge of community pharmacy, I can assure you that this will lead to a significant level of closures and reduced service generally due to the financial constraints it will impose on both the wholesalers, and the pharmacies who remain in business.
That indicates clearly that the entire argument made by the HSE yesterday was a sham.
I am enraged that the HSE issued a long press release during yesterday's meeting. The press release, which was on my computer when I returned to my office at the end of the meeting, presents a one-sided view of this matter by quoting selectively in support of the HSE's case, which is totally at variance with reality. That is the background to today's meeting. I have no problem seconding Deputy Lynch's amendment, which proposes that the HSE be asked to withdraw the 1 March deadline. That amendment has to be considered in the context of a motion that has already been agreed by the committee. For that reason, we need to go into private session.
I will not have a problem if the committee's agreed motion reflects what is in Fianna Fáil's motion and contains the substance of what is in the Labour Party's amendment. If we can agree that, we will have made progress on behalf of those who are directly affected — pharmacists and patients — which is our overall duty. I honestly believe that people on all sides of the House want to achieve that, so it is a pity we have got into a dispute about a motion that was not put before us until this morning. We need to return to the original context of this meeting — the motions which were supposed to be addressed yesterday but were deferred until today. We need to go into private session.