Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

Senator Twomey must not have had a good lunch because he really had a go at the HSE. I smile because the Senator welcomed the Bill and acknowledged that rationalisation is needed, for all the right reasons. However, having said that, he had a right old barney at the HSE to which I will respond later.

Like Senator Twomey, I believe the Bill is very good and much needed. It may have been long awaited but I am glad it is here. It will certainly bring more clarification to what is going on and will bring together the people who served on councils such as the National Council on Ageing and Older People, the Women's Health Council, the National Cancer Screening Service, the Drug Treatment Centre and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. This is in addition to dealing with superannuation, for example, which the Minister of State rightly said should be taken from the remit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and placed under the auspices of the Department of Health and Children. There are also the many changes to the Mental Health Act, which arose from that court case last summer.

One of the important points, especially in the bad economic downturn we are experiencing, is value for money and the efficiencies that can be achieved. There is no doubt the Bill's measures will bring these about, resulting in value for money and money being better spent.

Senator Twomey has a fear the agencies now going into the HSE may be contaminated by it. I do not agree they bring bad press on themselves. Paper will not refuse ink. The majority of those who work in the HSE are very hard-working public servants who do not deserve the bad press they get from irresponsible reporters. I say to Senator Twomey that the councils and boards to be incorporated into the HSE will bring their expertise to that body and it will also be beneficial for them because they will be at the coalface, a very important strategic move for them.

I am glad to see there will be a reduction in the number of agencies in the health service, from 34 to 18. As the Minister of State presented her speech, it struck me that everything has been done in a very methodical and well thought out way. She discussed the transfer of lands, other properties, moneys, stocks, shares and securities of the board to the HSE and it sounded almost like a will. I was beginning to wish I was a member of the HSE, getting some of these goodies that are coming. The final accounts will be prepared and submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit and ultimately the audited accounts and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be presented to the Minister and then to both Houses of the Oireachtas. It appears to be, and I am sure it will turn out to be so, a well thought out process and will go through in a coherent and simple way.

Senator Twomey agreed with the IMF's advice on a reduction in the number of agencies. Everybody does, and we have no problem with that, but I disagree with his statement that from 2002 to 2007 agencies mushroomed and were set up in considerable numbers. A great deal of work was done. Senator Twomey was in the Lower House then but we both sat on the Joint Committee on Health and Children and had many meetings regarding this matter. He will remember that much good work was done within the Department by the Ministers, Deputies Martin and Harney.

As the Minister of State made her presentation, my attention was drawn to the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 which regulated a group of ten or 12 professions, including dieticians, physiotherapists and chiropodists, for the first time. This was done with patient safety and care in mind. Ground-breaking provisions were introduced in terms of health. Between 2002 and 2007, the Department of Health and Children was doing many good things in which Senator Twomey and I played a role.

The Minister of State has rightly pointed out the wonderful successes that are BreastCheck, the Drug Treatment Centre Board and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. From a woman's point of view, I must take my hat off to the breast screening facility and BreastCheck. The latter has been rolled out in my area. Only one other area remains to be covered, namely, Donegal. That roll-out is either in progress or is imminent. In County Sligo where I live, women are availing of BreastCheck and are glad to have it. It is a great service and I would love to see the screening of other cancers about which we have spoken in the House, but that matter is for another day.

The Bill is important, but the case of a young mother involuntarily detained in a mental hospital, which was highlighted in the courts last summer, was scary to say the least. From reading newspapers, we all know what occurred. She was out walking when she was taken to a mental institution. I could never understand what constituted "staff of the approved centre" until I read the Bill and realised that the reference was probably to agency staff. As we know, nursing involves a lot of agency staff. Many private and public hospitals and nursing homes use a considerable number of agency staff personnel. As the Minister of State pointed out, there is a greater usage of agency nurses in the mid-Leinster and Dublin regions.