Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to support the Bill because I live in hope. I live in the hope that we can move towards an efficient health administration which serves patients and the community. I live in the hope that we can have a health administration which clearly accounts for the ways in which money is spent. I live in the hope that qualified accountants will be deployed effectively to ensure that is done. I live in the hope that we can have a democratically accountable organisation which provides elected Members with replies to queries as quickly as a Government Department.

The Minister has a lot of work to do given that health budgets are so much more difficult to come to terms with than those of any other Department. When one examines the figures spent in the education sector, which involves similar sums of money, one can follow reasonably closely where the money is being spent. Due to the way the HSE has been organised, it is very difficult to fathom where exactly money is being spent. It leads to scenarios like the one referred to by Deputy Simon Harris whereby money allocated to mental health ended up being siphoned off. Admittedly, it was replaced later. There is a real need to address this kind of issue.

The HSE is an example of the worst Fianna Fáil administrative practices. It was created as an extra wall between the public and the Government and as an organisation for politicians to blame rather than to take direct responsibility for services. It is vital that we move towards a more accountable structure. Ultimately, our aim must be to create a top-class, single-tier health service. It grieves me that the highly skilled doctors, nurses, occupational and speech therapists and orderlies by whom much excellent work is done in our health service are so ill served by the administration in place. If the Bill moves us towards a more satisfactory structure, we will be in a much better place. I wish the Minister well with it. Notwithstanding the criticism that is made of the health service, it is important to acknowledge the excellent work the professional and other staff do. They must be served by an effective administration. We have not had one to date. The Minister's actions are much to be encouraged.

The unresponsiveness of the HSE administration means we suffer from a lack of good primary health care and have a two-tier system which prioritises the rich over the rest. To this day, representatives receive serious complaints about waste. Deputy Simon Harris made a point earlier about consulting the people on the ground. It is important to do that because they are the people who can most easily point to savings which can be made. The two most recent complaints I received were in respect of a hospital in the north east and a blood clinic in a Dublin hospital. In the north east, the waste was in relation to stationary. It was pointed out that if the stationary had simply been sourced from Easons on the local main street, it would have cost less. I ask the Minister to indicate whether Deputy Brian Hayes's work as Minister of State with responsibility for public procurement will cover the health services. There is clearly work that needs to be done in that context. A person working in a blood clinic in a Dublin hospital told me she took samples from the same person three times over three consecutive days. She knew that the first sample would have been more than adequate. There was a waste of her time, equipment and testing facilities. Those two small examples will, unfortunately, be replicated across the country.

It is a tragedy - though no fault of the current Government - that we do not have sufficient money to spend on health. In that context, every cent must be used to great effect. I pay tribute to the great efforts of our many health professionals. If the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, can reform the HSE, he will deservedly go down in the annals and have a proud place in history.

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