Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for her detailed response. I have asked the Joint Committee on Health and Children, of which I am a member, to invite Ms Louise Bayliss to address the committee so we can hear her story. I have also proposed that representatives of the Irish Advocacy Network should be also invited to that forum. Some outstanding questions about the function, funding and supervision of the network need to be answered. The Chairman of the committee has indicated that my request will be considered on Thursday morning. I remind the House of the importance of the legislation I mentioned in my initial contribution. I ask Deputies to imagine the society we would have if Deputy Rabbitte had been successful when he sought to introduce whistleblowers legislation in 1999. They can reflect on how free and comfortable some staff in Anglo Irish Bank might have felt in recent years if the legislation had been passed, and on how that might have changed Irish society. The same thing applies to the staff of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and some of our nursing homes. The introduction of such legislation is of crucial importance.

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