Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I encourage the Government to listen very carefully to the concerns raised by Opposition and Independent Seanadóirí about legislation. Senator Norris and I had some success last week in the discussion on the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill, although we would have liked more substantial success. The Government will encourage people to understand the virtue of our bicameral system if it is open to a proper, open-minded consideration of amendments proposed in this House.

As we are all aware, the German federal constitutional court recently gave a conditional green light to Germany's ratification of the Lisbon treaty subject, however, to the bringing forward of legislation that would strengthen the power of the German Parliament over the application of European legislation in Germany. The German constitutional court insisted that it has the power to refute the validity of European law in Germany if necessary. That is relevant to us as we face a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Will the proposed constitutional change allow a similar right of way, as it were, to the Constitution and to those who interpret it when it comes to taking a serious dispassionate look at how European legislation might apply in this jurisdiction? I fear that our courts have not been sufficiently strong in vindicating the dignity and the role of the Constitution in this respect. I hope that we will follow the German model, regardless of the outcome of the referendum on the Lisbon treaty.

Listening to the director of the Central Mental Hospital this morning, I did not get the impression that there was any enthusiasm for its move from Dundrum, but perhaps I misunderstood him. While it is good that the hospital will not be located at Thornton Hall, I am not convinced that this is not a U-turn. There was obviously a plan to locate the Central Mental Hospital at Thornton Hall and now we hear that the site would not be large enough to accommodate other required forensic mental health units. I do not suppose there is a chance that the Government will recoup the high cost of buying that site from the vendor.

On a very serious note, I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on the need to include end-of-life care in the corporate service plan of the Health Service Executive, HSE. Professor Roger Ulrich of Texas A&M University and the Center for Health System and Design said that Ireland has some of the poorest health infrastructure in the developed world. We badly need to put end-of-life care at the front and centre of our HSE corporate service plan to support the good work of the Irish Hospice Foundation and particularly its hospice friendly hospitals initiative and the design and dignity initiative in preparing standards and conducting audits with hospitals.