Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose that the Minister be required to accept parliamentary questions in respect of the regulator. The HSE is a separate agency from the Department of Health and when we submit a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health it is sent to the HSE for direct reply. It is not sufficient to make the regulator available to committee for an hour or two every year. We require ongoing access to information. A mechanism has been put in place for the HSE and I ask the Minister, Deputy Howlin, to consider it as part of the reporting structure.