Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators O'Meara and Browne for tabling a number of amendments which will enable Seanad Éireann to perform a role in the critical evaluation of this legislation. I appreciate that they did not resort to the common device of resubmitting their entire selection of Committee Stage amendments. We will, therefore, at least be able to examine, perhaps in a somewhat cursory way, the fundamental features of the Bill in detail.

As regards the amendment, I wish to reiterate what I said on Committee Stage regarding eligibility. It is important that Senators should be under no illusions about the fact that we have a rights-based approach in the administration of our health service. Statutory rights have been codified and developed in health legislation over the decades. That legislation confers on patients rights in respect of the general medical service and also with regard to hospital treatment. It is not the case that we do not have a rights-based approach in respect of our health service. We may argue as to the detail and whether a sufficient number of rights exist. In light of the fact that we have a service which encompasses so much provision in financial terms and also in basic terms in respect of the care and treatment of individuals, it is clear that the delineation with precision of rights is important. The latter is covered in the health legislation.

Article 36 of the health strategy recommends that legislation should be introduced to simplify and clarify the eligibility system within the health service. In accordance with this, the Department is reviewing the legislation to update and rationalise the framework for entitlement to health and personal and social services. The type of amendment the Senator is seeking to introduce here would be far more appropriate in terms of amending the legislation to which I refer. That is all I have to say about the merits of the amendment.

As regards the more general issues Senator O'Meara raised, the consultation process on the reform programme has been under way for 18 months. Time does not stand still. The Houses have a responsibility to take action in an area in respect of which there has been a focused public debate. Participation in that debate has been extensive throughout the sector. This is as it should be, particularly in light of the large number of employees in that sector. The Government has taken the view that we must expedite the process.

The Senator referred to the subject of a mission statement. Mission statements are matters for corporate plans, they are not really matters for legislation. This Bill is practical in nature and if it has a mission statement, it is that it seeks to ensure a more efficient and rational management of our health and personal social services. That is a matter which commands substantial public support.

Senator Henry also raised a number of matters and there is one matter on which I wish to provide her with some reassurance. The Senator expressed concern about the position of medical officers on the enactment of the legislation. I draw her attention to Schedule 5.4(3) which makes express provision for the continuation of authority to perform functions of medical officers. It states:

Any function under the Health Acts 1947 to 1953 of a medical officer of health may be performed on and after the establishment day by an appropriately qualified medical practitioner who is an employee of the Executive and is designated in writing by it to perform such function.

Continuity of the work done by medical officers is, therefore, expressly provided for in the legislation.

The Senator is correct that the complaints procedure is new. However, it builds on existing practices and is separate from the professional regulation for which the Medical Council is responsible and which is catered for under the legislation relating to medical practitioners. The complaints procedures included in the Bill are entirely distinct from that statutory procedure with which I am sure — I do not mean this in any derogatory sense — the Senator is familiar. What is being established in the Bill is a codification of practices developed over time by the health boards in respect of the handling of complaints. In my view it is a positive development that we are providing that right, on a statutory basis, to individuals who might be dissatisfied with some element of the——