Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

How will they be described in the school accounts?

I wish to raise a different issue with the Taoiseach. Last Thursday, after the Order of Business in the House, the Opposition parties were informed of the Government's intention to introduce emergency legislation in the House this week to protect the legal status of 19 agencies established under one of the Health Acts because the Attorney General had raised questions about their legality or legitimacy. There is nothing new about emergency legislation, which is a fairly common feature of the manner in which the Government goes about its business, plugging legislative loopholes here, there and everywhere.

However, a number of things are somewhat odd about this particular emergency legislation. First, we learned that the Cabinet decided on this emergency legislation on 4 December last and did not tell anyone about it for ten days. I refer in particular to the other Members who will be obliged to deal with it. Second, we learned that the Attorney General gave this advice to the Government last October. It must be some emergency that would cause the Government to sit on it for two months and then introduce emergency legislation in the last week before Christmas. Third, a number of bodies such as the Fire Services Council, Irish Water Safety and the National Safety Council have been established under identical local government legislation and no issue has been raised about their status. This emergency legislation looks doubtful, to put it mildly.

However, the Bill that was published last week contains a provision relating to the transfer of land from Beaumont Hospital and St. James's Hospital for the purposes of the co-located private hospitals. It appears that a legal obstacle has been raised regarding the right of the two hospitals, the Health Service Executive and the Government to transfer lands at the two hospitals for the proposed private clinics. It appears the legislation being introduced in the House later today is not to plug some legislative loophole but to provide a legislative basis, under the camouflage of emergency legislation, to allow the Government to hand over publicly owned hospital lands for privately run clinics at Beaumont Hospital in Deputy Finian McGrath's constituency and at St. James's Hospital. Why was nobody told about this legislation if a decision was made thereon on 4 December? Why did the Government sit on it for two months after the Attorney General gave his advice last October? If emergency legislation is required to deal with the health agencies, why is similar legislation not being introduced to deal with the agencies established under very similar local government legislation?

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