Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is incredibly important legislation. It is extremely important that we get it right. It is welcome that the Minister has expressed willingness to engage and hear the concerns that have been raised. I have to say this has been too long coming. Regardless, we should all accept that if this takes an extra number of weeks to get a Bill that will pass unanimously through the House with the enthusiastic and full backing of all Members this is what we should absolutely do.

I have to say I never had the privilege of meeting Vicky Phelan but her legacy is phenomenal. Her name has been referenced many times this evening, including by a number of Members who knew her personally and who are deeply affected by her loss. In many ways, the Bill is a testament to her. Her legacy is ensuring that we are raising concerns not only for her but for all those who follow and all those who may have been impacted. This is very powerful and I hope it comes as some solace to those who knew and loved her and to all of those who have campaigned and brought what it is a deeply personal and tragic set of circumstances into the public domain, not for themselves but for others. It is a very powerful statement of intent.

As I said earlier, I hope our deliberations this evening will force a rethink on the part of the HSE at long last. There are multiple areas in respect of which scandals have yet to be uncovered. Where scandals have been raised the HSE's instinctive reaction at every occasion is to delay, frustrate, hide and block. This needs to change. It can only change with political determination at Government level.

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