Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader to outline to the House the timetable for the various Stages of the National Asset Management Agency Bill which will be taken next week? I ask him for a guarantee that there will not be a guillotine or time restriction on the legislation and that adequate time will be provided to debate the amendments tabled during the course of the debate. The Bill has critical implications for taxpayers and there is increasing anxiety and great uncertainty in the country about the shape of the budget and how the public finances are being dealt with. There is a sense that enough has been said by the Government to make every interest group anxious but not enough to give clear direction on where the Government is going in managing the public finances. The House has discussed on a number of occasions the role of social partnership, the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas and how critical it is that Members are given an opportunity to discuss economic and budgetary strategy. This is not in the schedule of business for this week so I ask the Leader to outline when this debate will take place following the NAMA legislation.

I wish to raise a number of issues concerning health. I asked the Leader last week to discuss with the Minister for Health and Children as a matter of urgency the situation in Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin and the waiting lists for cardiac surgery for young children. Will the Leader inform the House if a decision has been taken to allocate increased resources to the intensive care unit in Crumlin or if the Minister can come to the House and say what is the Government policy? While we wait for the national paediatric hospital, what is going to happen to these children and will the resources be put in place?

There has been another serious outbreak of C. difficile in a Drogheda hospital with disturbing reports about deaths, wards being closed and disruption to procedures. The Minister for Health and Children needs to come to the House to explain how the issue of hospital-acquired infections is being dealt with and what progress is being made. I link that to public uncertainty as to whether people should go to their general practitioner or the HSE clinics for H1N1 vaccination. There is a need for the Minister for Health and Children to show leadership on these issues, to be available and to lead. In the same way that we need leadership on economic issues, we need strong leadership on health issues also.