Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree in principle and if HIQA wants to start publishing hospital by hospital data for MRSA, it is free to do so and there will be no objection from me. However, it is important that the data are reliable. Unreliable data are no good to anybody and can be harmful. The role of the patient advocacy service will be to advocate for patients generally and individually. I do not intend it to gather and publish statistics, which can best be done by the patient safety unit in my Department or HIQA. We do not need to duplicate another agency to collect and publish statistics. We should just do it. It does not require a statutory agency to do something that can already be done. The patient advocacy service will do something that is done by NGOs but is not resourced and supported to the extent it should be.

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