Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I will answer Deputy Neville's question first if that is in order. Hygiene standards must be implemented in all health care settings, such as in the community setting and in residential settings caring for older people, children, individuals with a disability and the psychiatric setting. This is the intention in terms of the independent inspectorate from HIQA but it has not yet happened. I repeat what I said earlier that it is a matter for the management in all health care settings, whether in the psychiatric or the acute setting, to ensure the highest possible standards of hygiene apply.

In answer to Deputy Lynch's question, I do not wish to suffer from the big brother syndrome of telling health care staff when and where they can wear their uniforms but there is merit in what Deputy Lynch has said. It certainly would not be tolerated in other sectors of the economy for somebody working in a microchip plant or in the food sector to wear his or her uniform when travelling to and from work. We all have a significant role to play in this regard. There must be a focus on this area on the part of health care professionals, patients and the public. The patient of the future will ask whether health care staff have washed their hands but that time is quite a bit away, in my view.

See this speech in context