Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

The Minister for Health and Children stands indicted by the state of the health service. In my constituency, Limerick East, for the past ten days 50 beds have been idle, with a 17-bed general surgical ward in Limerick Regional Hospital and 35 beds in St. John's Hospital remaining unopened since the start of the summer. That happened because every summer the ground floor ward in St. John's is closed as result of budgetary constraints but when it was to reopen in September, the hospital found an embargo had been put in place. The Minister talks about co-location but that is a joke because we cannot even use the existing beds. There was no cost benefit analysis of the co-location system.

The HSE has clearly failed in the three years since its formation. In the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for 2006, the financial systems within the HSE are damned on page 136 and on page 141 this stance is supported by the Department of Finance. The Comptroller and Auditor General stated that the Accounting Officer said he was aware of the difficulties caused by the lack of a proper financial management system and he shares the Comptroller and Auditor General's concerns in this regard. The HSE is a €14 billion business organisation with a manual system in place in certain areas. That is one of the reasons for the mess in which it finds itself. Its reporting is chronic, it did not flag the €200 million early on. Professor Drumm should be handing money back from his salary, not taking an €80,000 bonus. It is a disgrace.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's report features another interesting statement. For the former Mid-Western Health Board area, the underspend was €32 million in 2006 but in corporate services and management in the HSE there was an overspend of €17 million. It was supposed to spend €27 million but spent €45 million, almost 70% above the original target.

I am interested in the Disability Act passed in 2005. Section 8 in Part 2 of the Act dealt with an assessment of needs for children up to five years of age. They are entitled to an assessment after three months and legally to a report after a further three months. Where does that stand while the embargo is in place? Existing therapy service staff, not new staff, are being used to carry out assessments.

I call on the Minister to demand of the HSE that there are no further embargoes on frontline staff, to stop all bonus payments to management and to implement the review of the HSE reporting system, which is an absolute disgrace.

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