Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I said that the HSE is in the process of putting in place a parliamentary affairs division that will be fully resourced. The intention is that, by the autumn of this year, Members of the Oireachtas and others will have very speedy access to responses such as the one that the Deputy seeks from me.

The earlier part of the Deputy's question concerned what I have done since taking up office regarding hygiene. At my first meeting with Mr. Pat McLoughlin after his appointment as head of the national hospitals office, I raised the matter as a priority issue. I made money available in the Estimates for hygiene related initiatives. Mr. McLoughlin felt that the most appropriate way to proceed was to have a hygiene audit so that we could see the state of play. That had to go to public tender.

However, that is not the only initiative, since there have been many discussions with individual hospitals and a conference at which those responsible for hygiene have heard what is expected of them, and there will be many more efforts of that nature. Making the information publicly available will in itself act as pressure on those with responsibility in the area to act quickly. I said this in another forum, and I do not mind repeating it here. When the nuns were running the hospitals, they were always spotless.

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