Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In a major announcement in November 2015 in response to a range of issues about patient safety the Taoiseach said the Health Information and Patient Safety Bill 2015 would make mandatory the reporting of events which had resulted in death or serious harm. At the time the heads of the Bill had been published but in May 2018 the Bill remains in Schedule B. It has been around for a long time. In 2015 it was specifically stated mandatory reporting of events which had resulted in deaths or serious harm would be introduced. A year later this was changed at the request of the Chief Medical Officer. This happened around the time of the Portlaoise scandal. Will the Taoiseach explain why it is taking so long for the legislation to be enacted? He will be aware of the scandal in Portlaoise which, as I understand it, provoked the major announcement of this legislation and a suite of other measures, but there is no sign of it being placed in the Statute Books any time soon. Will the Taoiseach explain the reason for the delay? It is does not speak well of the legislative process or this House that a Bill of this import takes so long to enact.

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