Mary Henry (Independent)

I second the amendment and thank Senator Norris for tabling it again. I was more concerned after the reply from the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to my amendment which was worded the same as this one on Committee Stage. In this country we have a long tradition of private institutions carrying out functions for the State. As I pointed out when we had this debate on Committee Stage, I was not looking for the Minister of State to make some sort of list now because, unfortunately, we have ended up with one from the Laffoy commission where private institutions which were carrying out functions for the State had to be investigated. I strongly believe this amendment should be accepted.

I was particularly anxious about the reference to private hospitals and how they would be different. Even as we speak, under the national treatment purchase scheme, we are paying private hospitals to carry out work on public patients. They should not be treated under a different regime to public patients within public hospitals. I am more anxious now than I was after hearing the Minister of State's replies on Committee Stage because of our long tradition of private institutions carrying out work for the State.