Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

This Government has always stooped to facilitate vested interests. When we had the opportunity under benchmarking to ensure that people did the work for which they were responsible, we shirked the responsibility. I attribute the incidence of MRSA to the fact that despite doctors, nurses and hospital staff working very hard, nobody is responsible, no one has been sacked and nor will they be even though people are dying from this disease. That is the problem we face in this country.

I first encountered MRSA when a woman came to my office. She had to go into hospital and she was genuinely concerned. She was afraid to go in case she contracted MRSA. I was not too sure what MRSA was at the time and neither was anyone else. Neither were we too sure how the disease could be contracted.