John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Tánaiste's solution is to centralise and have less accountability in the system. She is correct in stating that I opposed plans for the Health Service Executive. When the tragic death of Patrick Joseph Walsh was announced, the person sent out to bat for the Tánaiste was Professor Drumm. The HSE's function is to be the Tánaiste's mudguard and we have less accountability and less democracy.

Health boards were criticised in the past but this morning Deputy Sargent recalled a vote by the South Eastern Health Board regarding abuse in the Ferns diocese. A councillor proposing a motion on abuse received the support of only one of his colleagues. He may have been defeated but we know a vote took place and there was accountability. We can ask people who voted down that proposal why they did so. Now we do not have accountability. The HSE appears before the Joint Committee on Health and Children every so often and certain questions can be posed.

The Tánaiste said she would set up a parliamentary division of the HSE. Questions have been referred but I still await replies. When will this division be set up and when will the staff do their job effectively? When will we have democracy and accountability? During the Tánaiste's tenure we have had greater centralisation, less democracy, less accountability and a much worse health service. That is the reality and it will be the record of the Tánaiste as we enter the next general election.

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