Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Leas Cross report. This matter was referred to on a number of previous occasions and the Minister of State, whom I welcome, has dealt with it in public several times.

One of the matters that saddens me about debates of this nature relates to the issue raised by Senator Feeney regarding the scoring of political points. The Senator is absolutely correct that matters of this sort should not be used to score such points. The difficulty is, however, that if she happens to be on this side of the House next year, she will be doing the same thing. I have been a Member of the House long enough to realise that fact, so what she said does not cut any ice with me.

This matter is way above politics. I have studiously avoided laying blame on Ministers or anyone else. However, I believe there are people at fault. In my opinion, we have been misinformed on a number of occasions. We were told, not by the Minister of State, on a number of occasions that legal reasons were preventing the publication of the Leas Cross report. That is what the members of the Joint Committee on Health and Children were told and that was not true.