Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"2.?The Health Service Executive shall cease to exist no later than October 10, 2015.".

This amendment, in my name and that of Senator Crown, puts a date on the sunset of the Health Service Executive. The date is three years from when the Minister first appeared in the House to address this legislation. We share his objective of not having a HSE in three years. A sunset clause is needed because quangos tend to assume another life. There is so-called mission creep as quangos invent other tasks for themselves to do. Some of the quangos that have been listed for culling seem to get stronger. In this regard, one should consider the Higher Education Authority and Health Insurance Authority.

We share the Minister's wish to see the HSE abolished within three years. Our amendment uses the date mentioned by the Minister previously in the Seanad. We are offering him the chance to cement this as part of his general plan not to have the HSE and to have competing health insurance companies in operation.