Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

Will the Tánaiste find out who is responsible in each hospital for hygiene and cleanliness? What sanctions has the Tánaiste prepared for a hospital that fails in this regard? I am surprised the Tánaiste is carrying out an audit through a UK-based company rather than an Irish-based one.

Does the Tánaiste have the authority to find out what is happening in the 37 acute hospitals under her control? Does she accept that MRSA is fast becoming another litigation nightmare in respect of the health care services because simple protocols have not been followed since 1995 and this will lead to at least 200 cases coming to court in the foreseeable future? Has the Tánaiste received correspondence from the Health Service Executive or an equivalent organisation on MRSA and its presence in hospitals, especially in the past 12 years, and what has gone wrong or what is being done to try to stop it?

Will the Tánaiste explain why a meat factory or a hotel, which has a significant public health responsibility, is raided by environmental health officers, whereas a hospital is not? Does she see merit in my proposal to set up a flying squad of experts, such as clinical nurses and quality control experts who would raid hospitals, which should be the safest places in the country? A flying squad could carry out an independent audit of hospitals without warning throughout the year.

The Tánaiste referred to septicaemia of MRSA in hospitals but that statistic is not broken down by hospital. It is done at laboratory level. Septicaemia of MRSA is a good indicator of how out of control MRSA is in a hospital. Publishing those figures for each hospital would provide a ready answer as to where the problem lies.

These are simple questions that have nothing to do with the audit or extra money but with who is responsible and what we can do that will work for the future. Studying markers such as septicaemia will better indicate what is going, or has gone, wrong.

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