Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 18, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following new subsection:

"(2) The Authority shall be accountable to the Oireachtas and shall subscribe to a code of practice to be agreed with the Minister, which shall include provision that the Authority shall give a substantive reply within 7 days to any written question submitted by a member of the Houses of the Oireachtas.".

The idea that the authority has a commitment to respond quickly to questions from Members of the Oireachtas had, according to Deputy Wall, been agreed to in principle. The process and procedures had not been clearly agreed. This arises from the frustration Members have with the HSE and its inability to deal with queries in a timescale that may make a difference to people's lives. A question that would take three days to be answered when submitted as a parliamentary question takes three months when submitted to the HSE. My party colleague raised this matter with the Minister and this amendment represents our attempt to rectify the situation in legislation. I look forward to the Minister's reply and his proposal to ensure queries from Members are dealt with in an efficient fashion. Seven days is more than twice the amount of time it took the allegedly inefficient Civil Service — which is in fact extremely efficient — to reply to a written question tabled in the Dáil.