Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I note the historic legislation on equality passed in the Dáil last night, the Civil Partnership Bill. I welcome the all-party agreement evident during the course of the debate and the fine work done on the Bill. I congratulate the Minister for Justice and Law Reform and all involved for the manner with which they dealt with the legislation. Will the Leader outline how the legislation will be dealt with next week in the House, given that the Dáil will break for its summer recess next week?

In her annual report, published yesterday, the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, makes what can only be described as a stinging attack on the Heath Service Executive and the way in which it does its business. She speaks about a culture of secrecy, legalism and difficulties in accessing information. She describes case after case of the appalling treatment of individuals at the hands of the HSE. Senators on all sides of the House have raised these issues before. I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that we have a discussion on the serious implications of the Ombudsman's report for the future management of the health service. I want the Minister for Health and Children in the House to respond to the report and outline her intentions to deal with this condemnation of the HSE for how it does it business and its impact on individuals.

On the Order of Business yesterday Senator Mary White asked why the Cabinet was not responding on mental health issues. The cross-party group on mental health hosted a meeting this week to examine the impact of the recession on mental health, including the huge increase in demand for services and the difficulties in accessing them because 700 front-line jobs have been lost in mental health services this year. Today the Independent Monitoring Group on Mental Health published its third annual report in which it agrees with Senator Mary White that the Government is not responding in meeting the needs of the mental health sector, that the programme A Vision for Change is not being implemented and that funding has been cut back. This is different from what the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, tells us when he is in the House. We must start talking about the facts, not fiction, with regard to mental health. Therefore, I repeat my call for a debate on mental health issues before the end of term. Will the Leader indicate if he can fit in a debate, even a short one, in order that we can focus on the issues raised by the monitoring group today?