Ms Nessa Childers:

Senator Leyden asked about a certain organisation. While I am not quite sure about it, I suspect it might well be a front for the tobacco lobby. I will talk about it later with the Senator because it is not appropriate to discuss it in public as I do not know the full story.

Senator Leyden also raised the matter of the loss of an Irish seat in the European Parliament due to the accession of Croatia. If any more countries join, I believe more seats will be provided. At this rate, we will probably have to be in another building because there are not enough seats in the hemicycle where we vote. While we have made our feelings known about the seat, the Government will not use its veto in this regard. I am sure no other government would have used the veto in this case. I have heard rumours that Greece and Romania are getting twitchy about it, however.

Many of the issues relating to national parliaments and legislative oversight as provided for in the Lisbon treaty are the responsibility of each member state. If the oversight goes below a certain level, there is a violation of the Lisbon treaty. It is the Government and political parties which must deal with that failure. One cannot have legislative oversight unless the Seanad is allowed to object to legislation and vote it down. One really should not have this protected situation. The whole Irish political system simply rubber-stamps legislation and has voted through emergency legislation without anyone knowing properly for what they are voting. I recall my father in the early 1970s was concerned about emergency legislation. There were emergency Acts going through the Dáil, some of them at 3 a.m. I remember him saying we will rue the day when we pass legislation without knowing its consequences and we will not be able to repeal it or forget to repeal it. It does not matter if people agree with legislation as there is a whole principle of informed consent. This moves outwards from emergency legislation, like the vote on the promissory note, to European oversight. How does one end the rubber-stamping? I cannot do anything because it is a political issue. The Government has a huge majority and the Seanad will crash and burn unless Senators exercise hard political power to stop it happening. It involves more than talking.

Senator Burke referred to the free movement of medication. That is part of the cross-border health care package and prescriptions, for example, could be used in different member states. It is complex legislation but it means people will be able to receive treatment in other countries. This legislation will be transposed in about three months.

I have been talking to the medical device industry for well over a year now on this review of the directive. The fact the Poly Implant Prothèse, PIP, breast implant scandal happened in the middle of the review was not helpful. It will be difficult to guarantee against criminal fraud such as that but there are other issues involved.

Senator van Turnhout spoke about early diagnosis of HIV-AIDS. MEPs can actually act as advocates at that level in member states and encourage best practice. The best European medical practices are transposed in member states. That is one of the reasons we have round-table discussions. Early diagnosis of many health conditions is becoming a problem because of cutbacks. Early diagnosis is a sine qua non because it is necessary for the patient and is more cost effective in treatment.

Senator van Turnhout referred to the public health situation in Greece.

If people knew what was happening with regard to public health in Greece generally, they would be absolutely horrified. People are not being treated properly for cancer. To some degree, the Greek health system has failed. Médicins Sans Frontières is now in Greece trying to deal with the situation. Children there are suffering from malnutrition and have been seen going through bins searching for food. Well over a year ago, we began to hear what was happening with regard to the health system. I have asked doctors everywhere to try to help and some of the medical organisations here are interacting with their Greek counterparts. Great things have been done by doctors in Greece in trying to keep hospitals open but what has happened there is a lesson for us. How, with the Lisbon treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, we could have allowed such a situation to occur is beyond me.

We must be wary of where we are going here. If, as part of this austerity, we cut hundreds of millions out of our health budget, people must ask questions about what will happen to our health system as a result. Our health system is already staggering under the weight of cuts that have been imposed. We should be horrified by what has happened in Greece. We should be horrified that such things can happen in any European Union country. We must also be wary of what may happen here. Any investigation into the current Greek health situation will demonstrate what I mean.

The issue of tobacco as a public health issue was raised. I maintain that tobacco should be banned. Both my father and my brother died of tobacco-related illnesses and one of my other brothers had a heart attack and survived, but had to stop smoking. When it affects one personally, one realises the need to control the sale of tobacco. We are up against the lobbyists. The information is in the public domain that two Ministers met with the tobacco industry, in violation of the world tobacco treaty that was ratified in 2004. It is within Members' remit to ask questions about that. I am a great believer in asking questions. A great deal needs to be done at national level. Somebody suggested the banning of smoking in cars carrying children. I would agree with that. I grew up with pipe smoke in the car. I have developed asthma since, and am convinced it is as a result of spending hours in a smoke-filled car. We did not know then about passive smoking, but I am convinced it is one of the reasons for my asthma.

I am looking at my notes to see which questions I have yet to answer.