Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I salute the work of my colleague, Deputy Harty, who has been a serious, dedicated and passionate advocate of health reform in this State since his election five years ago by the good people of Contae an Chláir. Deputy Harty has made clear that he understands the purpose of this Bill. In the main it is an attempt to strengthen the rights of citizens and in particular those who are sick or ill, the weakest of us, to ministerial and Government accountability if the right to healthcare protection is violated. Who knows better than a GP who sees them every day of the week? It is a principle I strongly agree with.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, if he can listen to me a minute. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has left the building obviously. Unfortunately, as we know the issue of accountability in all Departments, not just in health, is more noticeable by its absence than by its presence. I only said it here last week to the Minister, Deputy Harris, when I asked what it would actually take for him to resign. I am not talking to the Minister of State but am repeating what I said to the Minister, Deputy Harris, last week. What disaster will be sufficient in order to make him resign and say to himself that he is not up to this job. He is clearly not up to the job or any other job either.

This Bill is complex at the constitutional, the political and the economic level. I accept entirely that there are consequences which need to be teased out, but not rubbished or buried for six months and the Minister buying six months. He told us earlier, that he wanted to engage and everything. He knows he will not be in the job. I know he will not be in the job and Deputy Harty knows it as well. The fact that there are difficulties and the issue is complex should not deter us from investigating if the Bill or the principle behind the Bill has merit. I think it has. I might not agree with everything Deputy Harty has in the Bill but it needs discussing and appreciation and respect. That is why I would have liked the Bill to go forward to Committee Stage or for greater pre-legislative scrutiny, where some of the main areas of tension could be resolved or explored in a reasonable and forensic manner. That is the least we would expect for the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, the man who led the campaign for Sláintecare. But no. Throw him under the bus. The Government does not want him.

Speaking to the general thrust behind the Bill, I will simply say that we urgently need a radical and profound cultural shift in this State in terms of how we hold those in positions of power accountable. They are not accountable by any shape, make or form. At present those who fail to deliver or even actually hinder the delivery of healthcare protection are almost anonymous. They hide behind the Minister. We know the Minister and we know the Government and we can hold them to account, both individually and collectively. We can place motions of no confidence in them although many might not vote for it. We had it in the Minister, Deputy Harris, who should have been voted out of office. Even if they are successful, how does that help the person denied access to vital care? Many have died waiting. The Minister of State knows that. How does that help the child who has been denied access to life saving medication or treatment and those conditions that may be irreversible? It does not. We have to be totally sanitised for a minute and examine that. Removing the Minister will hold him accountable and that is a good thing politically, but it does not advance the rights of citizens to greater levels of healthcare.

That is what I think has motivated Deputy Harty in his presentation of this Bill. His experience as Chair of the Oireachtas health committee has given him valuable insight into the systemic failures of our health system and how it continues to deny what should be a right of access to so many desperately ill people. We need greater accountability. We need to act and protect and vindicate the rights of most people. The Bill has the potential to kick-start a valuable conversation in that regard and I commend Deputy Harty for bringing it forward.

I do not commend the Minister, Deputy Harris. Tá sé imithe anois. He just could not be scathing enough. I at one stage just interrupted briefly to comment. He went back to the referendum about the eighth amendment. Is that going to be his only mantra for the rest of his life, wherever he ends up? It will not be in here, I am sure. The people of Wicklow will tell him. They will banish him to wherever but that is up to them. I will not say that. He is the most inept, useless, toothless and fruitless Minister for Health that ever came into this House. He knows nothing but worse than that - none of us knows a lot. I am not saying-----

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