Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I believe in holding the Minister to account and disagree fundamentally with many of her views. I will continue to debate them. There must be proper due process and a clear understanding of accountability so that when there is a change of Government, the next Minister with responsibility for health, if he or she comes from this side of the House, will not have to put up with the same attitude from the Members who are then in Opposition. It happens all the time. There must be accountability and responsibility and the difference between the two should be understood.

If I could see the risk register for Portlaoise Hospital and the risk register at various levels of the health service I could find out who needs to be brought to book in 20 minutes. If the Minister has not set up structures it is her fault. If she has, and other people are not operating them correctly as seems to be the case, it is the fault of others. If it is not the person at the top, and it need not be, we must find out where are the problems and single this area out for action.

The worst thing would be for Professor Drumm to leave the HSE. I remember how hard it was to get someone to take up the job. We must keep that in mind. I seek a debate where people could put their finger on the issue. We know how the women have suffered and there is consensus on the matter. Let nobody say it again. We know the Minister oversaw the legislation. Did she apply the legislation correctly? If it did not work whose fault is it? This is not a political issue.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill and a number of other speakers raised the old chestnut of people with holiday homes in the west objecting to housing for people in the west. The situation is chaotic. The type of behaviour to which I refer to is happening everywhere. There should be some connection between objectors and the areas in which they are objecting to developments. We introduced legislation to stop councillors approving breaches of planning in places to which they are not connected. We should introduce a similar system in respect of ordinary objectors.