Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and thank the Minister of State for facilitating it. He spoke about the effectiveness of the committee system and instanced two cases in which it is effective. However, most reports from committees are ignored by the Government. I refer to two reports which demonstrate this point. In July of last year, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, of which I was a member, produced a report with 33 recommendations on how to deal with the issue of suicide. Some 28 of those recommendations were to be implemented immediately. Today none of them has been introduced. Four of them were cost neutral but have not been introduced. We had a full debate one Thursday during which Members from all sides welcomed and supported the recommendations, yet, more than 12 months later, they have been ignored.

One recommendation states: "Have the National Office for Suicide Prevention, the HSE National Hospitals Office and the Primary, Community & Continuing Care Directorate review, improve and standardise pre-discharge and transfer planning from or between mental health service settings". This was ignored although it was cost neutral. Another recommendation states: "Recommendations from the Inspector of Mental Health Services must be implemented within a 5-year period of his/her report or a resignation from either the Inspector on a point of principle or the Minster with responsibility for Mental Health Services because of the failure to support the Inspectorate as a matter of course." This, too, is cost neutral but it was ignored despite the fact that the then Minister for Health and Children spoke and accepted all the recommendations and committed herself and the Government to their implementation.

Let me refer to a report on the public orthodontic service produced by the Joint Committee on Health and Children, on which it spent considerable time and for which it interviewed many people, including many from the Department of Health and Children. The report, published in May 2005, contained three controversial recommendations, yet the committee members were convinced they were necessary to ensure an adequate service for children requiring orthodontic treatment. I understand that staff within the Department totally frustrated the recommendations of the committee, even though the Minister for Health and Children accepted them in the House.

The two comprehensive reports, on which the joint committee spent much time and which would have a considerable impact on the well-being of children in one case and all the community in the other, were ignored. This is very frustrating for the committee members who devoted much time to them. There were high profile launches for both reports and discussions in the Dáil on foot of which the recommendations were accepted, yet they were not implemented.

I certainly welcome the Minister of State's acceptance that there should be reform. The proposals put forward by Fine Gael and the Labour Party during the last election campaign would complement his proposals. The commitment made during the campaign still stands and the Opposition's proposals would greatly enhance the workings of the Dáil. They included the Minister of State's proposal on the Adjournment debate. Having a Minister of State replying in respect of three of the four issues raised during an Adjournment debate and having civil servants anticipating the cases presented is hardly good enough. It is extremely frustrating to make a strong case about an issue only to have a Minister or Minister of State read a script pre-written by the responsible Department, which script he or she might not have read. It is soul-destroying, yet we persist with this method.

I hope the difficulties we have been experiencing with committees can be resolved very quickly. I assure the Minister of State that we will help in every way on this side of the House. I am sure he understands that we have a strong point to make, as stated by Deputy Kenny in his contribution.

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