James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Séan Power, to the House to debate this important Bill. That the Bill is before the House is a miracle in itself given the number of major health Bills that go through the House each year. It is amazing that the Minister and her lame-duck Government was able to have it here at all. Apart from amending legislation, on average there has been one health Bill per year over the past three or four years. We waited ten years for the Medical Practitioners Bill, five years for the Pharmacy Bill, and legislation dealing with the HIQA and nursing is pending.

While waiting for the Minister to publish this Bill we were told the delay was due to the fact that outside companies were quoting €50 million to administer the scheme. I do not accept this argument. Given that it has taken the Health Service Executive five months to advertise for the first tender for the provision of the service, it was a ludicrous excuse for the delay in making the repayments.

What makes the excuse even more extraordinary is the fact that the HSE, despite the Minister's pessimistic and strangely negative views, is quite capable of administering the scheme. By proposing to employ consultants to undertake the repayments and by providing in the Bill for the recruitment of external administrators, the Minister is showing contempt for the HSE. In true Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats style the Government is adding €50 million to the list of incidents of taxpayer's money that has been squandered, including the PPARS fiasco a few months ago. "Easy come, easy go", will be remembered as the slogan of the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition. What is it that makes the Government embrace one financial fiasco after another and for how long can we continue to take such wanton and deliberate waste? Considering the repayments will cost the taxpayer in excess of €1 billion, how can the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children contemplate spending an extra €50 million on outside consultants when the HSE is paid, willing and able to do the job? This defies logic and makes the public wonder at the wastefulness of this incompetent Government. The Tánaiste should be here in person to explain why she has squandered many millions of taxpayers money as have other Departments in the Cabinet.

In view of the fact that in February 2005 the HSE began to collect information on those who may be entitled to repayments it is surprising the Tánaiste still seems intent on bringing in consultants to administer the scheme. The HSE has already competently managed the payment of over €20 million in ex gratia payments to over 10,000 people. The information, structure and expertise are all present in the HSE.

The Tánaiste's insistence on hiring outside consultants can only be interpreted as a vote of no confidence in the relevant section of the HSE. If it cannot manage a reasonably straightforward task such as this repayment scheme how will it cope with national health emergencies? There is evidence it is not coping with the crowds at accident and emergency units. Moreover incompetence has been exhibited in dealing with other areas of the health service such as providing adequate resources to home help and carers. All of this proves the Government's negligence towards and disrespect for the elderly in our society.

I will not accept the Tánaiste's word that the HSE is incapable. It is the Government that is incapable. We should point the finger at the Tánaiste, whom the dunce's hat fits well. The Tánaiste, in a burst of uncharacteristic haste, rushed through the Health Act 2004 which established the HSE and we are now paying the price. What was wrong with elected Members, the voice of the people, being on health boards? She has given them a mere talking shop role in the new HSE. People elected to local authorities all over the country are frustrated at the lack of interest shown by the Department of Health and Children in their views. I have received feedback, and I am sure my colleagues on the Government side of the House have heard the same, suggesting local elected representatives feel they do not have a role in the process. They say their piece but officials are anxious to get away and so on. I was a local representative for 19 years and it was always important to listen to the people on the ground, which is something this Government is failing to do.

Last Sunday the supporters of Dublin's Gaelic football team came to Longford and heckled the Taoiseach over his incompetence and being out of the country last week when he should have been at home finalising important legislation in the other House. People were disappointed and annoyed. He was hissed at on Battery Road in Longford.