Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

This is like when someone asks questions of the National Roads Authority and never gets a reply because the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government always says it is a matter for the NRA and that he does not have a function in the matter.

We should also look at the accountability of the executive to the Oireachtas through the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. It is obvious that the committee does not have the resources necessary to ensure a body spending €11 billion a year is fully accountable. For the Minister of State to suggest that the board will be held accountable in this way is ridiculous. Unless the legislation contains a statutory provision that the committee would be given the resources it needs to ensure the board is held accountable, it is meaningless. That is regrettable because this is so important. One could think of a range of functions of the executive that a health committee would have to examine. It must also examine the role of the Minister. It is unrealistic to suggest that the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children could hold the executive and its chief executive accountable in the spending of such a large budget.