Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

On the second report, no decision has yet been made in regard to when legislation will be introduced. The Government has decided to go the legislative route in respect of the matters raised by the Deputy. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs obtained Government approval on 8 December last to prepare the general scheme of a Bill implementing the recommendations, including the recommendations of the majority of members where there was no unanimity on the second interim report. The Bill will deal with the issues of absolute and strict liability that arose in the context of the Supreme Court judgment in the CC case. The general scheme work has begun, but there is no date on either its publication or when it will be enacted. Obviously it will need to be proceeded with as soon as practicable.

On the other matters, a specific question to the Minister in question might be the best way to get an accurate reply. However, I welcome the fact that the accountability mechanisms, which are now in place like the Health Information and Quality Authority, are bringing forward as a result of audits conducted by the HSE the need to deal with its procedures in a transparent way and improve public confidence. It is precisely because we have improved the accountability mechanisms and because the work of HIQA is ongoing that we are getting to a position where we are able to address issues that would not be brought to our attention in the absence of those accountability mechanisms. That is the benefit of what is being done and it proves that the more modern framework that we have of inspection and the quality authority is drawing out these issues and ensuring that we have a structured and comprehensive response to these issues.

See this speech in context