Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Minimum standards are laid down at European level on virtually everything we do in the course of our daily lives. We need to get the benefit of these minimum standards. I do not want to be offensive or cause any aggravation, but that does not stop me from saying what needs to be said. I have been a member of the European affairs committee all my life, so I know where standards are laid down and I know what they are supposed to do. They are not doing it, we are not availing of them and we are not getting the benefits of our membership of the European Union for patients throughout the country.