Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Yes, there will be a proactive campaign, beginning with the hygiene audit during July and August of every hospital in the country. The results will be published and we will also have a public awareness campaign, mainly but not exclusively around the hospitals. I hope that we will also be able to provide for a mechanism whereby people can bring it to the authorities' attention if they are unhappy with hygiene standards in a given hospital setting, such as that mentioned by Deputy Gormley. Finally, a senior person in every hospital will have to take responsibility for hygiene. If companies are being paid to perform a cleaning job and are not doing it, other companies will have to be found. It is not good enough and it is not a resource issue.

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