David Norris (Independent)

Yes. It is very important that a debate be arranged to allow us to look at this situation. The point I made yesterday — that it is not acceptable that it can take a long time for spillages of human waste to be cleaned when contract cleaners are in hospitals for a limited number of hours — was emphasised again today on the radio. I direct the attention of the Members of the House to a passionate letter written by Dr. Patrick Plunkett, which is published in today's The Irish Times. All Senators should read it.

The Seanad debate on dirt in hospitals could be widened to reflect the fact that we are a filthy people. I really do not know of any other society that is so dirty. When I said in this House a couple of years ago that people routinely urinate and defecate in the streets of Dublin, I was laughed at and wisecracks were made by Senators on all sides of the House. Respectable people can often be seen putting their feet up on the seats of public transport. God knows what they have been walking in. If a nurse sits on such a seat, for example in a train, he or she might bring whatever was left on it into a hospital. Are we surprised? It is time for us to recognise and deal with the idea of Irish filth. Perhaps I will make a suggestion off the top of my head — why not do a Chairman Mao on all these managers? Just as he sent professional people to work in the fields to give them a taste of physical labour, why should we not make hospital managers do a bit of cleaning?