Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House. In my closing contribution on the motion, I refer to points made by Senator Leyden about the elimination of MRSA. I do not think it is a question of eliminating MRSA but, instead, recognising we have it, that we can reduce the incidence of it as other countries have done, and that it must be managed, which is key. MRSA will stay with us because, as Senator Henry pointed out, bacteria have been here for a lot longer than we have and will be here for a lot longer after we have gone. People are over-using antibiotics, doctors may be over-prescribing them and the bacteria are building up an immunity to the antibiotics.

The US Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has approved a rapid 24-hour test for MRSA. This test has been approved by Canada. We should be researching the benefits of this test instead of reinventing the wheel. My colleague, Senator Feighan, raised the issue of the food industry. The fines in the food industry can be up to €1,500 per offence and six months in jail. A total of 37 offences are listed under the legislation governing food. Why is the health system so backward and why is more emphasis put on food and animal welfare than on patients in hospitals? There seems to be no accountability and no modern management techniques. This issue has been raised by many people.

Private hospitals are far from clean and they can be worse than public hospitals. The issue of nursing homes is significant. Last week my colleagues visited a nursing home in Amsterdam. Patients in nursing homes are elderly, they may have Alzheimer's disease and can be more difficult to control and keep in isolation rooms. These issues should be examined.

Senator Ormonde referred to hand washing. It is not necessarily a question of hand washing as this can be a means of spreading the infection. It is a question of using alcohol gel. This was brought home to me during our trip to Holland.

The Department of Agriculture and Food has 30 information websites available with regard to avian flu, yet no bird has tested positive for this infection. However, 600 people have MRSA and there are no comparable websites in the health system. We seem to be well able to provide information about foot and mouth disease, avian flu and food hygiene but we fail miserably on the issue of patient safety in hospitals.

There is an issue about compensation due to patients. I recommend that anyone going into hospital should insist on being swabbed on admission and tested for MRSA and they should be tested and swabbed again on their departure. If the tests prove that they did not have MRSA on admission to hospital but had the infection when leaving the hospital, they should be compensated. It is unfortunate but it will take litigation and compensation before the authorities sit up and take notice. That is the history of our country and it is regrettable that this is what it will take.

In Holland hospital uniforms are cleaned in the hospital. There is no such practice of staff going home with them on and wearing them while feeding babies and going shopping. The staff undressed at the hospital and the uniforms were all cleaned. This is another method for eliminating the spread of MRSA. The sum of €1.5 million given last January to help tackle MRSA is mind-boggling. We are reinventing the wheel. All it takes is a visit to Dr. Hussein in Cardiff or to Deventer in Holland where best practice can be observed and which can be replicated quite easily.

While much in the Minister's contribution was welcome, she spoke mainly in the future tense. For example, she indicated that the commission on patient safety and quality assurance would report back in 18 months. A new Government and, in all likelihood, a new Minister for Health and Children will be in office at that stage. As Senator Leyden, a Government Member, noted, the lack of urgency is worrying.

The amendment is disappointing, especially its lack of clarity regarding the simple, basic right of patients to be informed if they have MRSA. While it acknowledges that patients have such an entitlement, it does not state they should be informed.

Any of us could end up in hospital tomorrow. I know of a 16 year old who broke his leg playing rugby and contracted MRSA while in hospital for treatment. If patients contract MRSA, so be it, but it is not asking too much to require that they be informed in order that they, their families and members of staff can take precautions.

Considerable work has been done on the MRSA problem over the past two years. I compliment the MRSA and family group on its work on the issue, including the public meetings it held, and my local radio station, the first media outlet to allow someone to air a view on the issue. The widespread coverage of MRSA since the programme in question was broadcast shows the power of local radio, without which the national media may not have provided a forum for discussing the issue.

I also compliment some members of the press who have consistently written about MRSA. While it is good that the issue has received prominence in newspapers and on television recently — it has been discussed twice on "The Late Late Show" and was covered in an episode of the "Prime Time Investigates" programme — it is worrying that it is still a topic for discussion and little progress has been made in addressing it. Much more work needs to be done. My party will vote against the Government amendment because it is disingenuous and does not treat the MRSA problem with the urgency it demands.