Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator Barrett. If Government Ministers are making claims of such a serious nature - that bribes were being offered in return for political support or political favours - it is important for us to have the details.

This is a serious issue and not something to be thrown about in a regional or local newspaper on the basis of support for or against a particular referendum campaign. I hope the Leader will do his best to have the Minister of State come to this House to make a statement on this serious matter.

I seek a debate on an issue that has come to the fore today, namely, that the State is facing a potential bill of almost €1 billion in respect of clinical indemnity claims against hospitals and medical practitioners in 2012. This figure has more than doubled since 2008. The average time taken to address these issues has also doubled from two years in 2008 to almost five years in 2012. These are issues that must be examined in more detail given that during the five years concerned the Government has had to cut back substantially in the resources available to hospitals and clinicians throughout the country. It is clear there is some level of correlation between this and the lack of available care in terms of numbers of doctors, hours being worked and so on. This must be addressed, particularly in the context of the inordinate hours which junior doctors will be forced to work from next week. This is a serious issue.

I join with colleagues in condemning the terrible events in Athlone in recent days. It was reported recently that the HSE had failed to provide timely support and services over several years to a child who had made multiple allegations. It also failed to allocate a social worker or to make arrangements for face-to-face meetings. This indicates our system is failing from beginning to end. I call on the Leader to provide time for a debate on these issues during whatever time remains of this Seanad.