John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to be able to contribute to this Fine Gael motion, and I commend Deputy Reilly for bringing it forward. There are many issues I could speak about but I will concentrate on a couple.

I happened to see "Prime Time" last week on the Ombudsman's report regarding nursing home care in Ireland and the rights and entitlements of people accessing that care. The message from the programme to the people was to the effect that there is no accountability by this Government and that we are as well not to have an Ombudsman because no account is taken of her views. The Ombudsman has been seen as a fair referee and adjudicator when members of the public are denied their rights by the State. This office has been a great source of comfort for thousands of people all over the country, after other avenues had been exhausted. The then Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald appointed the first Ombudsman, Michael Mills, in 1984 and since that time all Governments for the most part have, until recently, accepted the findings of this independent voice and that office's recommendations.

The lost at sea scheme was voted down earlier this year in the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on the instructions of the Government. Then we had the spectacle last week of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, telling the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly on live television that she was operating outside her jurisdiction, and justifying the non-co-operation of the Department of Health and Children and the HSE with the investigation. The Minister went on to sing the praises of the nursing home support scheme introduced last year as a way of addressing the issue for the present and into the future. She did not deal with the denial of rights to the elderly in the past nor did she clarify the difference between eligibility for nursing home care and entitlement to it for applicants. This has not yet presented problems because the scheme is only in its early stages and the resources allocated this year have been sufficient to meet the needs of eligible applicants. The number of eligible applicants, however, will mushroom in the coming years as Ireland's population grows older but this does not make elderly people entitled to it if the resources are not in place, so there is another major crisis coming down the tracks.

Therefore, the Government scheme that is being praised by it from on high ignores the injustices of the past while failing to recognise that it is not going to be a solution for the future. With reference to last week's "Prime Time" programme, I would urge that the country cannot continue like this. The Ombudsman's recommendations are either accepted or they are not. Both the Minister and the Ombudsman must consider their positions, following what the public saw on live television last week. Either we have a dictatorship in which we are all told what to do or a democracy where there are checks and balances and within which justice is provided in the system.

The Ombudsman took on the Minister, the Department of Health and Children and the HSE last week on behalf of the senior citizens of Ireland and she was told it was none of her business and advised not to be acting outside her jurisdiction. There has been much talk recently on the need to reform politics and how it is administered in this country inside and outside these Houses. This investigation into the history of how our elderly have been treated and the subsequent report and its handling by Government is a good reason why there has to be a fundamental review of how political business is done in this State, to address the imbalance between the powers of Parliament and the Executive under the Constitution.

There are many issues that I have not time to address, such as the way the State is defending cases being brought by members of the public. No explanation or clarity has been given in that regard, but some of my colleagues have dealt with this already. I want to come back to the fundamental point of the Ombudsman's report and the Department's response. It is startling. The Department said the Ombudsman had exceeded her jurisdiction, failed to abide by fair procedures, displayed prejudice, objective bias and arrogance, while purporting to interpret the law.

On the other hand there is the damning conclusion in the Ombudsman's report which refers, in terms of to access to nursing home care over four decades, to confusion, uncertainty, misinformation, inconsistency and inequity. That is not the view of politicians, but rather the Ombudsman's view. I commend this motion to the House.

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