James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I, like Deputy Leo Varadkar, have many reservations about the committee system and the manner in which the House does its business. I would have found the Minister of State's contribution quite encouraging had I not had the benefit of hearing the responses of some other Deputies. I am particularly disturbed by Deputy Dan Neville's comments on the Joint Committee on Health and Children. None of its recommendations, which were accepted by the Dáil, have been implemented.

Deputy Leo Varadkar and others mentioned that the HSE and other quangos are now being used as a screen to prevent Ministers being held to account in this House. I have a sheaf of parliamentary questions I asked last week that have been referred to the HSE. This is just like referring them to eternity because I will never get the answers I seek. If I do, it will be long past the time during which they will be of value to me or my constituents.

The HSE is in disarray and is bringing politicians into disrepute because there is a perception that they cannot do anything. Some 30 or 40 students from Templeogue who were visiting the House earlier will, on looking at this Dáil, wonder why anyone should vote, let alone run for election, if politicians all appear to be neutered. They do not seem to be able to deliver information or effect change under the current arrangements.

I am obviously very interested in the Committee on Health and Children and I am very distressed at what is happening at present. We were told there would be no cutbacks before the election, but there are cutbacks. We were then told the cutbacks would not affect patient care, but they do. The number of days during which the Galway cancer service operates has been reduced from five to three.

Legionnaire's disease was discovered in the water supply of a nursing home in Dublin. The patients there, instead of being transferred to another private nursing home that could accommodate them, were, for cost-saving reasons, placed in St. Joseph's Hospital in Raheny, which is the elective surgery unit for Beaumont Hospital. Consequently, operations are being cancelled hand over fist in Beaumont and patients will have to wait much longer for care.

Consider the case of a patient in the intensive care unit in Galway who received a serious head injury in a road traffic accident. His consultant wanted him to have 24-hour nursing care but his request was refused by the HSE because of the staffing freeze. Consequently, the poor, unfortunate patient has fallen out of bed on at least one occasion and his family must stand in vigil over him for 24 hours per day. It is outrageous that this is happening in the Ireland of 2007.

There is a child with Down's syndrome and cystic fibrosis whose home care package has been removed from him. An elderly man with relatives all over north Dublin cannot be placed in care in this region although there is plenty of space in the nursing homes. The list goes on and it includes real people in real distress who are suffering because of the cutbacks. We do not even have a health committee at which to discuss them. Even if we did have one, according to Deputy Dan Neville, there would be gagging clauses so that it could not report on various issues in public. This beggars belief. Is Ireland becoming a Third World communist state?

I am very worried about the democratic deficit in the European Union. Before the summer recess, we discussed the fact that the Department of Homeland Security in the United States had extended the time during which it could retain information on Irish citizens. We only received notice of the motion the night before and when it was discussed in the House, we discovered it was a done deal and already agreed in Europe. Where is the democracy in this case? Members' parliamentary questions are being fobbed off to the HSE, which is not the only body to which responsibility is being transferred. This shows disregard for the House and the public.

Let me refer to the successful committees. The Committee of Public Accounts, which was chaired by the late Jim Mitchell, did great work and was certainly more successful than many of the tribunals. It reached conclusions very quickly and inexpensively. We need to be seen to be engaging with voters and able to effect change. We must not keep allowing the Government to hide behind semi-State bodies.

We need a committee to consider drugs in prisons. Why do people who do not take drugs on entering prison come out on drugs? This is not good enough and needs to be explored further.

I support the call to televise the Dáil and committees. I do not agree with Members who believe this would lead to playing to the gallery. It would shine a light on the House. Politicians should do their jobs correctly or not at all.

In light of what the Taoiseach said about the difficulty in finding suitable people for positions on State boards, such positions should be advertised. The applicants should be interviewed by an Oireachtas committee, as is done in other jurisdictions.

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