David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

This amendment is focused on the practicality of the liaison officer working in the Health Service Executive. When a liaison officer is performing his or her functions, the person will have to find the services that are there. I am not sure how the liaison officer is to operate, and I asked the Minister on a few occasions yesterday evening and today how the person is to function within the Health Service Executive. Does he envisage the liaison officer being given a budget at the start of each year? Will money on which the liaison officer might draw be ring-fenced? Will the person have to fight in the executive for every crumb and service each time a service statement is being prepared?

Perhaps the Minister of State might tell us how he envisages the liaison officer providing those services and what model will be in place. That would help us all greatly. We all know that resources are never unlimited, but we wonder how that is to be done. People are worried that needs are being defined with reference to resources rather than the other way around. Resources should really be defined with reference to needs. When the liaison officer goes to the Health Service Executive seeking services, what kind of authority will he or she have to get them? That is another issue, since we all know from people working in large hospitals that there are pressures from different sections for various services. People can hold services, and sometimes patients are kept in a bed a little longer so that it is not lost to a consultant when the next patient comes in. We all know that such things go on. The liaison officer should have some form of independence or authority. What is that, and how is the liaison officer to function in the Health Service Executive? That is clear to no one.

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