Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I support the call by Senator McFadden for the Minister or one of her Ministers of State to answer questions in the House on the health service. I agree that we cannot hold a Minister completely responsible for every mistake, no matter how serious or what the consequences of it might be, but in this case we should remember that this is not something that has come out of the blue. The issues of accountability and governance go back many years. The Minister has spoken in the Chamber and in the Dáil about better governance and accountability but the reality is that in regard to the Government, the only person these Houses can hold accountable is the Minister. She must be held accountable on what actions she has taken to ensure accountability and better governance in Tallaght hospital.

We have seen the stripping down of the public health service during her period as Minister for Health and Children. She has prioritised private health over public health. She has dismantled the infrastructure of what was a public health system that needed investment, energy and commitment. What we have seen is the opposite, a dismantling of the system for the benefit of a private, for-profit system that has been pushed forward by the Minster with the support of her Government partners.

I have no doubt that the Minister should be present. She should not be travelling the globe while patients in Tallaght are frantically calling their local constituency representatives because they cannot get through to the helpline. The Minister should be ensuring that patients who may not have had the right diagnosis would at least be able to get through to the helpline.

In my constituency the Health Service Executive is at an advanced stage of planning to close down a public community hospital and a public nursing home to transfer those patients to the private sector, again for the benefit of privatisation. It is important that the Minister would come to the House at the earliest opportunity and, in the meantime, to regain public confidence, she or one of her colleagues should answer the questions we cannot ask of the hospital board or the Health Service Executive.

On a separate matter-----