Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not in disagreement with what Deputies Donnelly and O'Reilly are trying to do here. However, I must tell the House, in all sincerity and in the hope that the Deputies accept my bona fides in this regard, that I have consulted the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this matter and its advice, which is therefore my advice to the House, is that the Bill, as currently written is - entirely accidentally and unintentionally owing to the various amendments - legally in conflict. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for me to enact section 16N(2)(b), the paragraph dealing with the two patient advocates. I fully accept that is not the intention of any Member.

Section 16N(1)(c), which provides for "8 ordinary members, who shall include a patient advocate, a financial expert and two clinical experts", is read by the advice available to me to be in conflict with section 16N(2)(b), which provides that at least two of the persons "appointed under paragraph (a) shall be persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, have experience of, or expertise in, advocacy in relation to matters affecting patients." The advice available to me is that the Bill, as currently construed, is in conflict accidentally. For this reason, I have come forward with what I believe to be a compromise, under which we will proceed to designate a seat for clinical expertise, as the Opposition has asked me to do, to appoint a financial expert in the coming weeks, whose name I do not have but who will come through the Public Appointments Service following a request by me, and to appoint the two patient advocates who I have already named and whose bona fides everybody accepts.

A further HSE governance Bill is due for publication this summer. This was in the Government legislative programme published in recent days. I am more than happy to work and engage with Deputies Donnelly, O'Reilly and Harty and the Opposition generally on further refining or rectifying this issue to achieve the outcome Deputy Donnelly seeks.

I advise, however, that adopting the Government amendments is the best way to achieve an effective board, one which will have two patient advocates and a clinical and financial expert, respectively, and be up and running at the end of May. Failure to do so will, according to the advice available to me, prevent me from enacting the Scally recommendation on two patient advocates, which is not the intention of anyone in this House.

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