Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

Listening to my colleague, Deputy Tony Dempsey, I cannot help but remark on the confluence of opinion between us right down to the issue of sportsmen and ventolin inhalers. I do not know whether it is because this is the first day back and we are looking at a different future to most Members of the House. One of the key pieces of equipment in the gearbags of a remarkably high proportion of young men playing physical sport is a ventolin inhaler. I suggest the figure is in excess of 30% which is remarkable when one considers the pressure on one's breathing which high-level sport automatically brings with it.

While I do not wish to play politics with this issue, it is most unfortunate Deputy Crawford's colleagues in a putative coalition are absent from the Chamber, particularly given that within the past hour they saw fit to enter the Chamber and call a quorum. For such important legislation as this not even to have a token presence in the Chamber says something. I will not draw further conclusions from it.

Regarding the Bill, a particular paragraph from the speech by the Minister for Health and Children is worthy of repetition.

Step by step, in the reform programme and legislation, we are leaving behind the old system which for too long included inconsistent standards across health boards, opaque and incomplete standards and even no standards. It gave us inconsistency of enforcement, some legal incapacity for enforcement of residential care standards and gaps in the scope of enforcement in these settings.

Some would also state it left opportunity for no enforcement whatever. The paragraph continues:

We are also leaving behind the old system in which vital information in health was not comprehensively gathered and assessment of new technologies and drugs was not clearly and systematically made to serve the interests of patients and taxpayers alike.

This paragraph accurately sums up the sheer magnitude of the task facing not only the Minister but particularly Professor Drumm and the staff of the HSE. It is a mammoth task which by no means will be easily achieved. However, it must be achieved not for any political reason but for quality of life and the confidence of people in the body politic.

My colleague, Deputy Tony Dempsey, referred to inspections and not only do I wish to endorse what he stated but I also want to add my opinion. For a long number of years, this country has had a culture of what I call "Irish inspections". The Revenue Commissioners have come out of a lengthy process of modernisation, updating and depersonalising while at the same time retaining a high professional standard. They are now a model for the type of inspection culture we should have.

Currently, we are in the throes of the early stages of a similar change in attitude to drink-driving. Specific traffic corps, usually from another Garda district, are brought in to deal with inspections. That is as it should be. This Bill is mainly about inspections and for inspections to be what they claim to be and to serve the purpose they must, the culture of "Irish inspections" must be eradicated from the system.

This Bill provides us with an opportunity to take another step along the road and eradicate the defects in inspections in the health service. It will take a strong man or woman at the top and a strong management team to do it. However, it must be done not only to achieve the end result in the health service in particular but also because of its place in the overall culture of inspection in Ireland.

This culture has probably generated an imbalance in politically correct attitudes in an attempt to eradicate the culture which has been in place for so long. It is interesting that we are discussing a poor culture of inspection and political correction. There must be an imbalance if we are to rectify the deficits in the system. I wish the very best to the Minister and chief executive of the HSE in their efforts to address this task.

Another issue I wish to address is whistleblowing. I will quote very briefly from the Minister's speech. In the final paragraph, she stated:

In line with a commitment that I gave last year, I will introduce specific provisions in the Health Bill regarding the protected disclosure of information. Those provisions will support the existing statutory frameworks governing health professionals and those in the recently published Medical Practitioners Bill 2007.

I do not doubt that it is very important that we facilitate whistleblowing. In a previous life, I dealt on a daily basis with the Medical Council and am also aware of excessive facility being afforded to whistleblowers because there are professional reputations on the line in every instance of whistleblowing. I look forward to the Minister producing balanced legislation in this regard and wholeheartedly welcome her statement to the effect that there will be a lay majority on the new Medical Council under the proposals in that legislation, which is yet to be put before the House. I have called for that in this House in the past and am delighted to hear that it is coming and the nettle is being grasped. I do not see that the medical profession has anything to fear. Deputy Tony Dempsey referred to an old Latin phrase which I cannot remember but which translates as "who guards the guards?", or in other words, "who polices the police?". It is time that self-regulation in this country is seen for what it is, namely, a behemoth of times past for which there is no place in a modern democracy if we are to have public confidence in the political process. Objective deliberation in respect of the policing of all the various professions is a fundamental necessity.

In conclusion, I refer to a particular issue of relevance to my constituency. The importance of this issue can be drawn from the fact that Leas Cross is literally across the road from my constituency. It was originally part of the constituency that elected me but is no longer located there. However, a significant number of its patients were from my constituency. Beaumont Hospital, which has many problems, is the principal hospital for my area. The north Dublin GP co-operative, which was the last such co-operative for out-of-hours coverage to be introduced in the country, covers my area.

This area is not one that has experienced all the positives of our health service by any stretch of the imagination. The major negative it has suffered from has been the affair at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, which is the other hospital in my catchment area. Again, I take no pleasure from renewing my call in respect of this issue, but I want to ensure I avail of the opportunity available to me today. The plight of the victims of Michael Neary and what took place at that inquiry deserve to be highlighted again.

This is the ninth new year through which the victims of Micheal Neary have lived since the scandal first broke. We are all aware of the horrible suffering they have endured. They have dealt with this suffering in a most professional and rational way and their courage and contribution to medicine in this country has been praised by the president of the Medical Council, Dr. John Hillery. They have shown remarkable patience and strength during those nine years. Unfortunately, we are at a stage where if there is no immediate action, the State will again fail these women and their families.

See this speech in context