Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

This will serve as notice to corporate management in hospitals to make hygiene a far higher priority in the coming months and years.

I welcome HIQA's emphasis on a whole-system approach to hygiene, which makes this the most comprehensive quality review of any kind in Ireland. The review is intended to provide a detailed assessment of performance across the entire range of areas that impact upon hygiene so individual hospitals can identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement.

The challenge laid down by this new report, the first of its kind, is for management, from senior management down through the system, to do far better. The report also aims to see contractors in hospitals abiding by far higher standards — they are, frankly, being paid enough and should abide by the standards set by HIQA.

The Health Information and Quality Authority is the organisation to drive standards and to fight the difficulties posed by hygiene problems, MRSA and other infections in the health system not only in this country but in other countries. This report has set the benchmark against which people will be judged and improvements are needed, particularly in the area of governance.

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