Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree that the issue of quality is important. It is a matter not simply of the cost, but of the quality and product one gets.

I have other explanations as to why the hygiene standards might not be as robust as they used to be. From my experience in Wexford General Hospital when it was run by a matron of the St. John of God Order, I shall simply say that a tight ship was run and you could eat your dinner off the floor. That is the truth of it. That level of oversight no longer exists. Maybe it is not possible or there should not be the level of oversight that existed in those days, but certainly a tight ship was run. Maybe that is an explanation of it.

In terms of the general issue Deputy Boyd Barrett raises, it is important that we conduct robust analysis of the outcome. I am conscious that we constantly measure the inputs into education and other areas, but we seldom measure the outputs. With the new budgeting system, we try to establish what we get for the inputs. We all must ask constantly because our response to every issue is to seek more resources as opposed to asking what we are getting for the resources we are putting in.

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