David Norris (Independent)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 4, line 19, after "exercised" to insert "and shall include any person or body certain of whose functions are functions of a public nature, but in relation to a particular act, such a person or body shall not be an organ of state if the nature of the act is private".

This amendment was tabled by Senator Henry on Committee Stage. There are a number of similar amendments. The purpose of the amendment is to encompass in the legislation bodies such as schools and hospitals. I know there is an argument that some of these are private. In reply to this amendment on the previous Stage the Minister of State said:

If one examines the issue of hospitals, one sees that a health board is a body established by law under the definition provided by the Act. In the case of a private hospital, other considerations would apply.

However, these other considerations are not spelled out by the Minister of State who makes a kind of logical jump to say it is not possible or very difficult in legislation to construct a list. We have had this argument before. However, that was not my intention or that of Senator Henry. We want to extend the definition in these very clear circumstances and deliberately avoided any suggestion of a list in the amendment. There is a suggestion of making the test more inclusive in terms of human rights.

What exactly is a private hospital and what is so special about it? What are the rights of patients in a private hospital? Are they not at least the same as those of patients in a State hospital? Is the Minister of State contemplating turning a blind eye to violations of the European convention if they occur in private hospitals or schools as opposed to State hospitals and schools? It is worth asking this question. If I recall correctly, the Minister of State also said we were perhaps blurring the focus by including two standards. If it is necessary, let us have two. They are not necessarily two standards but if that is the case, so what? If it protects the rights of the citizen, I do not care if we have six standards. I am not interested in the technical problems that may be created for courts but the protection of the rights of the individual.