James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I agree with our deputy Leader on the public disquiet over the shabby handling of the helplines set up by the Health Service Executive to provide information on securing for the elderly those moneys that were taken illegally from them by various health boards. Many constituents have contacted me about the lengthy periods they have had to wait on the helplines. Will the Leader ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, who has taken full responsibility for health, to address the problem before the public lose confidence in the system?

Will the Leader invite the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to the House to debate the establishment of an audit commission to assess the performance of local authorities? As we all know, the public assesses the performance of elected members, but elected members sometimes adopt policies that are not implemented by the executives, thus resulting in a very serious problem. The public deserves an audit commission. It is important and would warrant a debate in the House. Such a debate might go some way towards addressing the fact that the policies of the elected members are not being implemented. I gleaned evidence of this from several counties. We should grade those councils that perform extremely well. Many councils have performed extremely well in the areas of housing, environmental services and roads, for example.