Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I object to the methodology for address of this legislation, the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007. As with Deputy Gilmore, I indicate to the Taoiseach that if the sections dealing with co-location at Beaumont Hospital and St. James's Hospital were removed, Sinn Féin would have no difficulty in dealing with the rest of the legislation in terms of confirming the legitimacy of the named bodies.

The whole thrust of this section requires some truthful answers on the floor of this House. These questions must include who raised the question of the need for this legislative measure on the co-location proposals for Beaumont Hospital and St. James's Hospital in the first place? Who presented the legal advice? It was not the Attorney General. I challenge the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, to state that it was the Attorney General. He was only the conduit of advices that were secured outside the ambit of the Attorney General. Where did the issue arise? Was it in the course of the tendering process for the co-location hospital sites? Was it raised by the legal advisers of one of the interested parties to the co-location proposal, this lucrative business opportunity for those who see health care provision as a means of creating profit? These are the questions that must be answered.

There is a notion that this is the Attorney General's advice but the reality is that it was indicated in the briefing to the various representatives here last Friday that the information would be sought. A letter from the Attorney General's office was circulated subsequently, advising that the information on the genesis of the matter being addressed within the provisions of this Bill was not for public consumption and would not be released because it was privileged.

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