Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to be associated with my colleagues' comments, especially those of Deputy Dan Neville, who has vast experience in the mental health area, particularly suicide. The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, also has a deep interest in ensuring those who are vulnerable are protected as far as possible.

This legislation is to ensure adequate accreditation of professionals dealing with and treating the public. Health and social care is more important than any other sector due to the nature of the business and the Bill is needed to ensure the effective functioning of the health and social care professionals council. While the Bill is technical in nature, it will play an important part in ensuring those professionals are trained to the appropriate standard in their fields.

The Bill deals with membership and registration criteria of professionals and the recognition of professional competence and qualifications. We should pay attention to Deputy Neville's assertions, and I ask the Minister of State and the Department of Health to do so because some people are vulnerable to those who claim to be counsellors and psychotherapists and they must be protected from such people. If someone operates in the public space and claims professional competence, he or she must be properly accredited by a council such as the medical professional council.

I commend all health and social care professionals on the manner in which they continue to work on the front line and care for patients in the community and in hospitals, despite fairly harsh budget cutbacks and the resources available to them being more scarce. Health professionals in this country are stepping up to the mark and caring for patients in these difficult times.

As a Deputy from the south east, I want to highlight a recent report from the south-east hospital working group. The report was compiled by health professionals in the south-east hospitals of Wexford, Waterford, south Tipperary and Kilkenny. It contains proactive proposals for a reconfigured and more efficient network of hospitals in the south east, delivering services and putting the patient first. I have forwarded the report to the Minister and the CEO of the HSE and I urge them to consider the proposals in it. These hospitals are working in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and Waterford Institute of Technology. They have identified operations in the south east that are hard to understand. Cardiac patients in Kilkenny who are treated in St. Luke's hospital are being transferred for further specialist treatment in St. James's Hospital in Dublin, when there is a modern, fully functioning cardiac laboratory in Waterford Regional Hospital, where two consultants, health professionals of the highest standard, operate only half an hour's ambulance drive away. These patients, however, are referred to Dublin for some reason. This does not do patient services or efficiency within the health service any good. I urge the Minister, the HSE and the Department of Health to address these inefficiencies in the best interests of patients.

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