David Norris (Independent)

I listened from the Dáil Gallery to the speech of Mary Harney last night and it was a remarkable performance. I do not use the word "performance" in a scathing manner and I do not wish to suggest there was anything theatrical about it. It was a speech of passionate conviction and I respect this. I have ideological differences with her and I have made them plain in this House. What horrified me was her statement that she was made aware of the ultrasound problem in Portlaoise only on Wednesday at a meeting with other people, spent 24 hours trying to get a satisfactory answer from the HSE and failed to do so.

It is astounding that the Minister for Health and Children cannot extract information from the bureaucracy. It confirms everything stated, not in a partisan way or on this side of the House, but by Members on the other side of the House and by Ministers. This worries me because clearly a real problem exists with regard to information flow.

This is not confined, however, to the Department of Health and Children. As I left the Chamber I encountered a Cabinet leak. As a result of this I was able to inform our distinguished Leader that a decision had been made to embark on Seanad reform, which will scrutinise the university seats in particular. It was a very interesting proposal and I welcome it but it is time we examined the rest of the seats. We should put an end to their method of election, although I am not casting aspersions on the people who managed to arrive here by a plainly corrupt system. If we are looking for rotten boroughs, they are all around this House but they are not in the six universities.