Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am happy where I am.

I wish to make a very serious point about the HSE without engaging in the usual HSE bashing, although I am capable of doing that. Under this legislation the HSE will nominate two people to the board, which is fair enough. However, that conflicts with what it is doing in my local hospital. I was a member of the AMNCH board when the hospital was established in 1998. When I became a county councillor, I resigned as a member of the health board and was replaced by another county councillor. When the HSE was established it decided, for its own reasons, not to take up its appointment to the hospital board. It still refuses to fill it. In recent correspondence, the HSE has told me it will not take up the appointment. If the HSE is saying it will take its place or places in the case of some boards and will participate, why does it not do so in the case of Tallaght hospital, at a time when there have been difficulties and issues surrounding accountability at the hospital and where letters went unanswered and X-rays were not dealt with? That is a big issue for my community and for the local doctors in Tallaght and the surrounding region. It should be borne in mind that the Tallaght hospital catchment stretches through parts of Kildare and Wicklow and down to Carnew. This is an important issue. What is the thinking on the part of the HSE? It cannot have things both ways. I hope somebody will examine this and report back to me on whether it is good enough for the HSE to take up its positions on certain boards but then decide, for its own political reasons, not to take them up on others. I am a little confused by this.

I am glad that colleagues on the Opposition benches welcome the thrust of this legislation, with some reservations. I am a strong supporter of the Bill and I hope it will be passed expeditiously and implemented as soon as possible. The purpose of the Bill is to enhance the protection of the public in its dealings with nurses and midwives and to ensure the integrity of the practise of nursing and midwifery. The Bill will provide a modern, efficient, transparent and accountable system for the regulation of the nursing and midwifery professions which will satisfy the public. That is important. It will ensure that all nurses and midwives are appropriately qualified and competent to practise in a safe manner on an ongoing basis.

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