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

I did not say that I would take personal responsibility for or charge of health; I said that I would take an interest in it and I will do so. Tomorrow I will meet the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the Secretary General of his Department in order that they might give me a better overview of what is happening in the health service and to consider how I can bring the support of the Department of the Taoiseach behind the great effort that is needed to turn our health service around. We have demonstrated in recent years what can be done to turn around the economy and the employment situation and to put our public finances back in order. I would like to be able to use the Department of the Taoiseach to lead in that way and improve our health service considerably. We will never have a perfect health service. No country does. However, Ireland is an outlier in terms of the charges people have to pay and the time they have to wait to access either elective or emergency services. I would like it to become a normal country in the context of such matters. I appreciate that will not be done overnight but will take several years of reform.

I do not have any specific information regarding CPE. Deputy McDonald may wish to raise the issue with the Minister for Health. There are many reasons why hospital-acquired infections or superbugs become more or less prevalent. Notwithstanding the factors mentioned by the Deputy, another superbug, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, is much less prevalent now than it was several years ago. The reasons for any infection being more prevalent in a hospital or community setting are multi-factorial and influenced by many issues. Overcrowding and staffing levels are only two of the many factors that affect the prevalence of any infection in either a hospital or community setting.

I am not party to any negotiations with consultants regarding their legal claim and it would not be normal for a Taoiseach or Cabinet committee to be involved in such.

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