Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I refer to comments made yesterday in the House by a number of Senators on the Government side, which were reported in The Irish Times today, regarding the tribunal lacking due process. The Leader implicitly supported these comments when he said other Senators would do well to take on board Senator Ó Murchú's views about what had happened in the tribunal to date. The Dáil voted confidence in the tribunal and, as recently as last week, Mr. Justice Mahon said to the Taoiseach's counsel that if they were concerned about due process, they could go to the courts and take a case. It is a serious matter for Senators on the Government side to take pot shots like this in the House at the tribunal, especially when they make a most serious charge about a lack of due process. I would like the Leader clarify his views on the matter.

The Government has set up a range of inquiries over recent years and I am very concerned that individual citizens feel they are not obtaining the response they would wish for from Government regarding these inquiries. The timeframe for them is also very delayed. For example, the family in the Rossiter case has waited five years for justice and yesterday it emerged that families involved in the Dunne inquiry used a freedom of information application to obtain information they believed was required. Why could they not be given the full report instead of having to obtain additional information in the most distressing way, as they did this week? In addition, the inquiry into breast cancer misdiagnosis, especially in the Rebecca O'Malley case, has been going on for more than a year while the Portlaoise hospital inquiry is also ongoing.

A series of crises occurred and the immediate response was to set up an inquiry and report back, yet several years later no decent mechanism is in place for the families to get hold of the outcome. Will the Leader and the Deputy Leader examine the mechanisms offered by the State to individuals where inquires are carried out to establish whether it can do better than it has to date? Perhaps the Leader will come back to the House with definitive information on the Rebecca O'Malley case, for example. When will that report be made available so that we can learn from it to ensure no other woman will be given a misdiagnosis and then have to wait to find out what happened? It is a serious issue. The State has a problem producing reports and providing answers to citizens. The Westminster Parliament produces such reports quickly all the time. We need to examine the mechanisms we use to try to do better by citizens who experience trauma in their lives and want to know how public policy can change in order that other people do not go through what they have experienced. Will the Leader come back to the House on this as soon as possible on that matter?

I congratulate Senator Callely on last night's autism partnership meeting which was attended by people from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Despite the Department of Education and Science's intransigence and lingering animosity, as Deputy O'Rourke remarked, there is clearly scope for cross-party work on putting in place the proper policies and reaching out to the increasing numbers of families who have to cope with autism. An interesting initiative was mentioned last night which involves making space for policy makers, politicians and families to come together and discuss what is needed. This initiative is particularly popular in America but we take a similar approach to other issues. We need to bring these parties together if we are to get the services we need.