Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

——what was known as the hospital bug. There are now names on these different infectious diseases acquired as a result of health care. The challenge for us is to have the expertise and the infrastructure to deal with them. The hospital of the future will be the single-bed model and this is what will pertain in the new children's hospital and in the new St. Vincent's Hospital. We have much to do in terms of infrastructure and in the areas of hand washing, infection control and antibiotic prescribing. We have a multifaceted approach which I believe is working. The reduction of 20% over the next four years is a challenging target which I believe we can meet.

See this speech in context