Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I thank the Tánaiste for that information. The increase in the number of MRSA cases being reported is startling and we all recognise there is under-reporting. I take it we are only talking about hospitals whereas information in regard to nursing homes and the wider community is not included. Therefore, I presume the figures should be much higher.

Does the Tánaiste accept the news that five babies in the national maternity hospital are carriers of MRSA is a matter of great concern? Is she able to state that staff within hospitals are doing what she asks, namely, washing their hands? What method has she to evaluate this? Does she accept this is not just a matter of washing hands? Indeed, she has been criticised by a senior consultant for trivialising the matter by stating it is about cleanliness and the washing of hands when there is also the issue of overcrowding. What does she have to say about the impact of overcrowding on the rate and extent of infections, such as MRSA, within our hospitals? How does she intend to achieve the OECD level of 85% bed occupancy? What are her plans in regard to these issues, which I am sure she will agree are as important as that of washing hands?

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