Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

In that case it makes perfect sense to put it into the legislation. In terms of relying on a Minister to ask the HSE to provide information, we have seen the difficulties that has led to in a range of areas in the past number of years where information has been very slow coming from the HSE. It has been very difficult to get accurate information and the health committee has frequently tried to get detailed information. I gave the example of where the Minister had directed that €25 million and €27 million be spent on implementation of A Vision for Change, but the €27 million disappeared down a black hole into other parts of the health service and was never spent on mental health services. With respect, the Minister having the ability to direct the HSE to publish is different from including it in legislation. There is an imbalance, as Senators on the other side of the House have pointed out.