So the safety of breast implants has never been the responsibility of the medicines regulator after the Irish Medicines Board’s CEO Pat O’Mahony appeared before the Joint Health Committee before Easter (IMN, 10/4/2012).

Please, no more. This year, the 200th anniversary of Dickens’s birth provided the perfect opportunity for talking heads to flood the airwaves and print media with so much Dickensian nostalgia that life itself acquired a sepia tinge. I even found myself slipping into a frock coat and top hat before selecting an ivory-topped cane from the umbrella stand with which I ‘d thrash young ruffians begging for gruel while on my morning constitutional.

“Fornicationgate” and the “smirking” debacle have overshadowed and detracted from the real issues concerning the Government’s voting down of the Medical Treatment (Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman) Bill 2012.

Following the second World War, Germany focused very heavily on developing indigenous businesses in order to stabilise and grow their economy after the devastating preceding years.  Ireland remained mired in poverty at that time but half a century later the Celtic Tiger roared its (transient) roar and the unmatched generous corporation tax rate worked its charms in attracting a slew of multinational companies to Ireland, chief among them all the pharmaceutical giants.

Revelations that Dr Martin Connor did not attend the majority of HSE board meetings that have occurred during the period he was appointed must raise questions about the value of the special expertise that is being drafted in to help run our beleaguered health service.

Dr John Kehoe (IMN, 20/3/2012) was “ … sad to see the article about medical students supporting abortion” (IMN, 12/3/2012); the same article which caused Dr Cliodhna Donnelly (IMN, 26/3/2012) “ … distress and much sadness”.

€2.5 billon less-- that’s the reduction in budget that our health services have had to endure over the last three years. Last year alone the budget reduction was a billion and this year we are forced to reduce the budget by a further €750 million. It’s an extraordinary reduction in such a short length of time.

It is difficult to know which is worse for older people in Ireland today; having key services they depend on cut, or living in fear that they will be cut in the near future.