Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Judge Peter Smithwick and his team for the work they have done over a very long number of years. We all share a sense of outrage, disappointment and sadness at the findings of his report and our thoughts are with the families of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan. I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, for their very prompt apologies on behalf of the State in this regard. It is welcome that there has been no further delay in issuing such apologies. I also ask the Leader if we might have a debate on the findings of the Smithwick tribunal because of its important ramifications for the Garda. I know the Commissioner will make a statement later today and we await that.

I observe the tax revenues and VAT receipts that came in at the end of November were up. I suppose that shows a sign of confidence and improvement in the economy. We are slowly making progress. One could go mad and say that is a signal of all manner of great things but I do not believe that to be the case. It is a good sign of progress and shows were are going in the right direction but there is much work to be done.

I draw attention to a statement made by the former Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, exactly one year ago when she appeared before the Joint Committee on Public Oversight and Petitions. She pointed out that the Department of Health, because of what appeared to be a culture of prevarication, disregard for the law and an inability to take hard decisions, had already caused the State to incur enormous costs and looked set to continue on that path. Yesterday, with the observation of Ms Justice Mary Irvine in regard to cases before the courts, we saw the delays in accepting liability. Ms O'Reilly was referring to the Who Cares? report and the number of settlements made out of court without any acknowledgment and without any information.

Given all we have heard about top-ups and payments to chief executives, I would like to know how much money the HSE is paying out in those settled cases on foot of the Who Cares? report because those trying to take cases find them dragged out over a long number of years and then being settled one by one. Even though the Ombudsman pointed out where the problems lay and the Department of Health and the HSE know what the liabilities are, we, as citizens, do not know how much money has been spent on each of these settlements. In light of the desire for accountability and transparency, those figures should now be made available. Will the Leader see if we can find a way, through the Minister for Health, to make these figures available? It is money being spent on our behalf and we should know how much it is.