Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I would welcome a debate on the appointment of the nominee to the Court of Auditors. The information I am getting from Brussels is that there is no enthusiasm for this appointment and it is important that there is a debate in this House. There is a draft report from the committee on budgetary control in Brussels which is being considered and it will go through the full course if the nomination proceeds. It is important that we in this House have a debate on who we send to a very important role at European level. This is about accountability.

One of the issues I dealt with in my short time in Brussels was cross-border health care. In Ireland we set up the treatment abroad procedure whereby if someone requires such treatment he or she has to get clearance before travelling and availing of that treatment abroad. I have come across a case where a person has been referred by a hospital consultant for treatment abroad. This person applied for clearance from the treatment abroad fund and received a response that the cover would not be given as the treatment is available in Ireland. I wrote to the relevant authorities on Thursday asking where in Ireland this treatment was available. I received a short and to the point response on Friday saying it is not their responsibility to identify where in Ireland that treatment is available. This is from a HSE official. I do not think this is good enough. This is about accountability. Our role in government and in whatever public service job we do is to work towards resolving problems rather than creating them.