Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I support this amendment. The Minister dealt with this in the Dáil and stated she was not in a position to make an order, which would require further legislation. Will the Minister of State clarify when it is intended to bring in such legislation so that the Minister can make an order on these issues? What is the impact of her not being able to make an order currently, arising from the position she finds herself in as a result of the Attorney General's advice?

My points on this section will highlight the request of the Opposition that the advice of the Attorney General be published. In the absence of its publication, the Government is asking the Opposition, as Senators have noted, to accept on trust what is required. For good legislation, we need the detail of why the Attorney General is at this point indicating this legislation is needed.

We have also been told that the boards of St. James's and Beaumont hospitals do not believe this is necessary, despite it being the advice of the Attorney General and the counsel he has received. The boards of the hospitals have indicated they do not need the legislation.

Arising from this, will the Minister of State clarify the wording of "sale" and "lease"? When I raised this yesterday, the Minister indicated this was the first question she herself had when she became aware of the issue. My colleague, Senator Bacik, shares my concern, and Senator Feeney addressed the matter also. On reading, to any lay eye it looks like sale could be implicit and it is passing over significant authority to those who would develop private hospitals on the land of St. James's and Beaumont hospitals.

It looks ambiguous to say the least. Although it may be legalese, I am nervous of the way it is written and the words used. It implies a potential to sell the land. When co-location was spoken of, it was always stated that there was no intention to sell the land.

Will the Minister of State give some more detail on why the wording is acceptable? When the Minister has the authority to introduce a statutory instrument, will she be able to address the matter at that point and go into more detail? We know she is not in a position at the moment to make an order regarding anything referred to in the Bill, which in a way freezes her authority on these issues until she introduces legislation. At what stage of preparation is the legislation she intends to introduce? When does she intend to introduce it? What will it cover?

Fine Gael believes that the Government should have introduced one Bill putting the agencies on a statutory footing, which we accept needs to be done. However, we would also have liked to have seen the advice. We do not believe this Bill should have addressed the issues regarding the Health Service Executive or the other aspects of co-location, which does not help in terms of getting Opposition support for the Tallaght strategy the Minister seeks on health. The Dáil had a major debate on the co-location aspects, which I will address later.

I appreciate the work that officials from the Department of Health and Children put into complex legislation such as this. This is not a reflection on that work but on the political decision to introduce the three sections into the Bill rather than just following strictly the advice of the Attorney General which we understand only dealt with putting the agencies on a statutory footing. We do not know that for sure as the Minister was not definitive on the matter. It would appear, however, that the advice of the Attorney General referred only to the necessity to put the agencies on a statutory footing. Those are the points I have to make in support of Senator Prendergast's amendment.