Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is different because we could approach it from either perspective. That decision remains to be made. Senator Gilroy asked about the suicide strategy. The strategy is being led by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. It has been considered by the Cabinet sub-committee and we intend to bring it to Cabinet in the next week or two, following which the Minister of State will publish it at a time of her choosing.

I ask Mr. O'Brien to address the specific questions on Portlaoise. Deputy Creighton said that she found it difficult to have confidence in reports which end up being left on the shelf. I understand her scepticism about the potential for HIQA reports making any difference.

However, they do make a difference. The report on cancer misdiagnosis has made a major difference and totally changed cancer diagnosis. We have reduced the number of centres from 30 to eight and are achieving much better, and constantly improving, outcomes. The reports on the nursing homes, particularly on Leas Cross made a difference. While standards in our nursing homes are far from perfect, they are much better than they were five or six years ago when we were hearing horror stories about nursing homes all the time. We are hearing about the disability care homes only now because HIQA regulations started in 2013. These problems did not begin in 2013. The problems in our care homes and the way residents have been treated must have been going on for decades. The difference now is that HIQA goes in, produces and publishes reports and the system is forced to act. It will result in a major improvement in the quality and standards in the coming years.

The hygiene reports make a major difference. MRSA rates are at their lowest ever recorded, although this is not just down to HIQA hygiene reports. The report on the ambulance service is making a difference and is the reason there is an extra €5 million for ambulances this year, there are three new ambulance bases and we are centralising control in Tallaght, which will be fully up and running within months. While I understand the scepticism due to the failure to implement some recommendations, which happens, let us not ignore the enormous amount of work being done by those who are implementing recommendations in ambulance services, hygiene, hospital acquired infections and nursing homes. It has made an enormous difference, and it should be recognised. Although it was not the Deputy's intention, we should not discount or denigrate all the work done by those people who have taken HIQA recommendations on board and made a significant difference for patients.