Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

He is not worried about the patients, nor what sort of system must be brought into place, but only worried about how he is perceived. One sentence in his letter to The Irish Times was quite interesting, "Your readers can be assured that the HSE will not tolerate nursing homes operating below acceptable standards". I would like to know where Mr. Browne has been for the last nine or ten years. He must have been asleep, because he certainly is not reading the same reports we are discussing. He continues by stating "where issues are identified for follow up action, they will be actively pursued". The owners of those bad nursing homes must have been shaking in their boots when they read that, because if the HSE could not do anything for the last 15 years, it certainly will not do anything about it now. Legislators must ask who is protecting the patients. That is the question the Minister of State should be answering.

Fine Gael will bring forward proposals for a patient safety authority. It will be mocked and jeered by Government representatives. It will be dismissed by Ministers who have much to answer for regarding care of the elderly. A patient safety authority is the only thing that will protect patients. We need an overarching body that focuses on the patient. The Medical Practitioners Act deals with doctors, the Pharmacy Act deals with pharmacists, the Nursing Act deals with nurses. However, legislation that focuses completely on the patient is always put off for another year by the Minister for Health and Children. What is another year when it comes to protecting the old people in our society? All legislation that might make a difference to patients has been put on the long finger by the Tánaiste, such as eligibility legislation. She has dismissed all legislation needed to protect patients. We must all act on this issue, but this Government especially needs to do so.

Most of the failure of the past nine years has had to do with quality of life issues and social services. The Minister's record cannot stand up on this issue. She can take action and follow our lead. She can take advice from people like Deputy O'Dowd, who has made this a major issue in his political career. She should not insult the elderly with the amendments the Government has made. The major point on which she focused, the social services inspectorate, has been dismissed for another year. That is the sort of attitude taken by this Government in the care of the elderly and it is a disgrace.

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