Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

The ongoing industrial action on the part of the Irish Nurses Organisation is having a debilitating effect on the health service. It is likely that the situation will become worse before it gets better. In view of the current impasse and the difficulties it is creating in the context of the provision of primary and acute care, does the Leader agree that sooner rather than later, a resolution must be found? Does she also agree it is important that no one, particularly front-line staff, should be demonised while that resolution is being sought? The situation will only be made worse if politicians, either in a leadership or a backbench role, attempt to play one section of the union off against the next.

A resolution to this problem may have to be found in the context of benchmarking. It would be useful if some of the grievances that are clearly felt by nurses could be resolved through the benchmarking process. Does the Leader agree that it might helpful if the Minister for Health and Children came before the House later in the week in order to make a statement on these issues and take questions from Members? There is a great deal of national concern about this issue and we would miss the opportunity to do a service to the public at large if we failed to provide an opportunity for a debate of some sort to take place this week. I ask the Leader to make time available, if she feels it would be useful to do so, for a debate on this matter.

The Minister for Health and Children recently sent to the Children's Hospital Temple Street Hospital, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and the National Children's Hospital in Tallaght a proposed statutory instrument relating to the establishment of a national paediatric hospital interim board. Will the Leader impress upon the Minister that when the statutory instrument in question, which is secondary legislation, is published, it should be debated in the House, which has yet to have a full debate on the issue of the national paediatric hospital?

On the question of a definition of a national paediatric hospital, the proposed statutory instrument states that secondary hospital services for the children of Dublin and the greater Dublin area will be included. However, this is completely at variance with the commitment the Taoiseach gave to Deputy Rabbitte in the Lower House two weeks ago when he stated that 90% of the children in Tallaght will be treated locally. Secondary services will either be provided locally or they will not. What the Taoiseach said runs completely contrary to what the Minister for Health and Children has indicated in the definition of the proposed statutory instrument that will, if she has her way, be published in the coming weeks. The way to discover who is telling the truth in respect of this matter is to arrange for a full-blown debate on the proposed statutory instrument when it is signed by the Minister. I formally request that time be made available for such a debate.