Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power. He is a man who calls it as he sees it which is what is required in this situation. Undoubtedly this is a litmus test for how we care for the most vulnerable, the young and the aged, in our society. Unfortunately, there have been serious failures in that regard in the specific case of Leas Cross. As was stated by Senator Feeney and endorsed by Senator Ryan and others, the majority of nursing homes are extremely well run and managed to quite a high standard, as should be the case.

The Acting Chairman will be familiar with New Ross. I was the founding chairman of the community hospital there which the Minister of State visited not so long ago. I have an insight into the process. We recruited a psychiatric nurse from a neighbouring hospital who took on the position of administrator. He turned out to be excellent. He put very good management procedures in place, recruited good staff and today, 15 years later, it is now run to a very good standard with its own hospice unit, and provides respite care and a step-down facility for the health board. The community is very proud of the hospital. The person we recruited was not in a position to find a career path within the health board system. He is now the manager of the newest major hospital in Dublin. Others were recruited internationally and failed to stay the course and he is now in charge of that hospital.

Coming from a business background I am convinced that whether it is a business operation, a hospital or the public service, one is dependent on good quality management. Unfortunately, Leas Cross did not have this and obviously did not have sufficiently caring nursing staff to attain the high standards necessary in this area.

It must be acknowledged that a systems failure existed within the Department which it would be wrong to understate. Unfortunately, this comes on the heels of other systems failures. The programme "States of Fear" dealt with historical issues within educational institutions and the Morris tribunal report highlights serious public service flaws. The time has come to examine the issue. The vast majority of public servants have made a significant contribution to all aspects of society and particularly to economic development. They should not be dragged down by a not insignificant minority who simply are not performing. I know how difficult it is to deal politically with issues such as this because politics often depends on people. I know of instances at local government level where councillors critical of the lack of performance of individuals and of the systems were subsequently boycotted by that system which refused to deal with them. This is unacceptable in a democracy and should not be allowed to continue.

In this regard I listened with interest to Senator Feighan. On the question of the introduction of benchmarking it is only right and proper that people in the public service would be appropriately paid for their responsibilities and for their performance. If there is to be a successor to the last benchmarking I hope it will be performance-based.