Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has also proposed increasing the fine to €300 for anybody who sells chocolate liquors to a child under 16 years of age. These are hardly ground-breaking and effective measures to tackle alcohol abuse. Perhaps the Minister of State will be able to offer some that make more sense when he responds.

The only report the Government has commissioned which has any reasonable recommendations to deal with the violence and aggression of patients who have abused alcohol is that of the national task force on alcohol. None of those recommendations has been implemented. They are far more important to citizens than the many other nonsensical reports, 148 of which have already been published. It is time to bring forward some simple proposals and make them work.

The HSA's report states:

While all departments in a health care setting may potentially be exposed to workplace violence, some are at higher risk than others. Such risk should be assessed having regard to the specific situation and conditions in which each department operates with special attention paid to those departments that are located in highly populated and high-crime areas; small and isolated; understaffed; under the strain of reform and downsizing; working with insufficient resources, including inappropriate equipment; and functioning in a culture of tolerance or acceptance of violence.

Of the 39 hospitals in the country, will the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, name those on the list which do not fulfil those criteria? Will he name hospitals which are large, well resourced, do not have problems with violence and are not understaffed? Almost every accident and emergency department, many of which I have visited, face these difficulties. All we hear day in, day out is about a ten point plan drawn up last November, yet nothing has been done on behalf of patients.

Patients are my primary concern, but if one looks at the Health and Safety Authority's report and asks who are the potential victims, it states that although all professionals in the health sector are potentially at risk of workplace violence, some appear to be at special risk. Nurses and ambulance staff are at extremely high risk, doctors and support and technical staff are at high risk while all other allied professionals are at risk. If all these people are at risk, patients are in a very dangerous position.

Tomorrow night I hope to have some figures for the Tánaiste on which she can reflect over the weekend. In the past month, 80% of staff in accident and emergency departments said they were exposed to some form of verbal abuse, 56% said it was threatening verbal abuse and 18% of nurses said they were exposed to what they would consider significant sexual harassment while carrying out their job. As I said, I might have other figures tomorrow night, but in the meantime the Tánaiste can dwell on those figures and outline what the Government is doing about this issue.

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