Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Childers to the House. I wish to remark on her admirable commitment to transparency and accountability, especially in the area of appointments. In her words today she showed clearly that is something she practices. It is something we need to formalise more, within national as well as European institutions. I also note her 20 years' experience as a mental health professional, something she brings to her work as the co-chair of the European Parliament mental health interest group. Her background probably adds the human quality to her contributions in the Parliament.

I note her strongly held belief that the EU should not facilitate the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of good public health policy. I was happy to hear she was appointed as the co-author of the Parliament's legislation on pricing systems for medicines last year. Such a compassionate approach is often missing from politics. There is a tendency to lose focus on the impact our actions as legislators and parliamentarians can have on individual citizens, especially when dealing with the macro issue Europe currently faces.

In light of this, I commend Ms Childers's call in 2011 on behalf of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats to see a more robust EU response to HIV-AIDS within our borders, particularly a greater focus on early diagnosis and care and ensuring the human rights of the patient are protected and upheld. I note that the findings of David Stuckler of Oxford University and Sanjay Basu of Stanford University, which were published this week, pose a link between the current austerity measures being implemented throughout Europe and a host of negative health implications, such as the 200% increase in the HIV infection rate in Greece since 2011, a figure I found startling and alarming. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure we deal with that worrying trend. Does Ms Childers feel there is any renewed focus or progress on this issue in the Parliament? What more can national governments do in regard to HIV and AIDS and examining the impact of austerity measures on our health services, which have a direct and real impact on the health of our citizens?

I commend Ms Childers on her work as co-chair of the European Parliament's MEPs against Cancer group. Today she clearly articulated her campaign against tobacco. She is right to frame it as a public health issue. When I was on the European Economic and Social Committee, I did a lot of work on alcohol-related harm. The industry wanted to focus on it as an employment issue but it needs to be considered as a public health issue in terms of the cost to public health services and the impact it has on the health of individuals. I do not envy Ms Childers's challenge in taking on the tobacco industry, because when I was rapporteur on alcohol-related harm, on two occasions the industry tried to question the evidence I had, the organisation for which I worked in Ireland - the Children's Rights Alliance - and my motivations. It did not succeed; thankfully, my colleagues on the committee knew me well and supported my amendments and opinion.

I am working on a Bill with Senators John Crown and Mark Daly to address the issue of adults smoking in cars with children. We need to protect children. We tabled the Bill almost a year ago. The Government is close to tabling amendments so we can bring it to Committee Stage. Perhaps it is an issue we can talk about at a European level. I sometimes think we should examine what influence we could have at European level on such legislation.

In terms of Seanad reform, perhaps there is a way we can bring issues that we, as national legislators, are working on to MEPs. We could consider how we can co-operate and further enhance one another's roles for the benefit of citizens, something for which we all wish. I ask for the support of Ms Childers for that Bill. Let us see how we can work together. I agree with Seanad reform.

On transparency and accountability, reform starts with the individual. I welcome Ms Childers's publication of her meetings with NGOs and lobbyists and her expenses - I publish details of all the public money I receive and how it is used. Sometimes we talk about reform in the abstract but we now need to talk about real reform, which starts with us and how we operate as legislators.