Phil Prendergast (Labour)

It was an unreal and unpleasant situation. Yesterday morning, I heard the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, pronounce on the radio that the Government's changes to the scheme for those aged over 70 was being warmly welcomed throughout the country. What we witnessed outside Leinster House would give lie to that.

Will the Leader arrange a debate on the Morris tribunal report? The report expressed a catalogue of corruption and abuses perpetrated by a small number of gardaí in a way which was unprecedented in our history. As was stated by my colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, Irish citizens had their basic rights crushed to a degree that is scarcely believable. One family in particular suffered years of harassment and abuse with devastating and ongoing consequences for each of them. This House should debate the contents of the report. The Garda Ombudsman is now in place, which I welcome. We must debate the other steps we need to take to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.

I call for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to come before the House to take this debate. If he does so, I hope he will not repeat the scurrilous allegations that he and another colleague made against my colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and Mr. Jim Higgins, a member of Fine Gael and a former Member of the Dáil. For a while yesterday, it seemed the Minister was more interested in grasping any opportunity he could find to launch a gratuitous attack on a respected member of the Dáil who did no more than carry out his duty as a public representative than dealing with the contents of the report itself. In a week when the word "apology" is on the lips of every Government representative perhaps the Minister would use the opportunity to apologise.

Will the Leader organise a debate with the Minister for Health and Children so she can answer serious questions that have arisen over the past couple of weeks? I want the Minister to confirm the number of beds in the public health system which will close. The HSE stated it will save €40 million per month in October, November and December. My colleagues in the nursing sector inform me that there has been a significant increase in the number of people on trolleys by comparison with this time last year. Are accident and emergency departments a cheaper way of dealing with patients than admitting them to hospital beds?

I also want the Minister to answer how many of the recommendations of the report undertaken by Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clark on maternity services at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda have been implemented and how long it will be before all of the recommendations are implemented. How many front-line posts, such as nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and ward support staff have been left vacant since 4 December 2007 when the HSE, in breach of the national partnership agreement Towards 2016 as determined by the Labour Court, introduced the staffing restrictions? How does the Minister intend to address the severe shortage of midwives in all of the major maternity hospitals and units throughout the country?