Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State. Public representatives who have served on health boards have expressed serious concern about the Health (Amendment) Bill. I served on the Midland Health Board for 20 years, including a spell as chairman. I enjoyed my time and felt we had a good board even though I know there are health boards responsible for much greater populations than that which is served by our board. Great credit is due to the local authority members elected to health boards who have served the country well. They worked on many visiting committees, land purchase committees and farm review committees. In my time the visiting committees played a major role in ensuring everything worked well on the front line, where staff worked and patients were cared for.

Huge improvements have taken place in mental institutions, which I welcome. People were always happy that their public representatives were in a position to visit such institutions and ensure that their relatives were being cared for in the best possible manner. I am concerned that this may now change. The voice of the people must be heard on the new health executive through their local public representatives. Action needs to be taken on this matter. I have fought this issue vigorously through my party and I will continue to fight it when the new legislation is passed.

Health boards had annual service plans and got their allocation from the Department. They ensured they lived within the service plan and everything was 100% above board. At local level there was very good hands-on involvement by public representatives who did an excellent job for so long. I am disturbed when we create good facilities for patients that are not fully utilised. In my home town, we built an age care unit for 90 patients with 40 due to move in immediately. This is being delayed because staff, who are working in very bad conditions and who fought for so long to get a new unit, as a result of some union problem want €4,000 to move 300 m up the road. That is very wrong in the context of care for patients in the health board area that I represented for so long.

The Health (Amendment) Bill represents an interim measure that must be taken. We look forward to the Bill that will define the future role of local public representatives.