Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I seek a debate on that issue. It was suggested previously that Senators should be enabled to put down parliamentary questions to Ministers. Recently, I put down a parliamentary question through a Deputy, as that is the only way we can do it, about a health issue in my constituency. The reply was that it was not a matter for the Minister for Health and Children but that the new parliamentary queries division in the HSE would answer the question. If that is the way we intend to proceed, we should impose timeframes on the HSE for replies to questions. We should not have to wait two or three weeks for a reply from the HSE when the reply should come from the Minister's office. Why was that parliamentary queries division, if that is the correct name for it, not put in the Minister's office instead of the HSE? It is time to examine these issues.