John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are soon to have legislation that will have the effect of introducing plain packaging and other restrictions on the tobacco industry. I hope it will be passed and put into law expeditiously. I greatly regret the fact that tobacco control legislation that I introduced, and which would have barred the lobbying by tobacco companies, was defeated. The second of my Bills, co-sponsored by my good colleagues Senators van Turnhout and Daly and which is to ban the practice of smoking in cars when children are present, seems to be terminally glued up. I ask the Leader and Deputy Leader to use their good offices to ensure this Bill proceeds expeditiously, as promised when we had a discussion on the previous Stage.

I am sorry if I seem to be perseverating on this. On 19 December, a statement was issued on behalf of the St. Vincent's hospital group concerning matters that had arisen in respect of an episode in which it dishonestly billed the VHI and other insurers for a large amount of money in respect of drugs that had been provided for free. The statement was made by an official of the hospital on 19 December and it was widely disseminated that what occurred was a genuine error. I need to bring to the attention of anyone who is interested that there is an ample number of documents that show it was not an error but known at multiple levels through the administration of the private hospital at the time. While it can be argued that 2002 was a different time, that standards then were different and more lax, and that there was, perhaps, a cowboy mentality at play in various parts of the public service, the administrative reaction to the occurrence then and since has been extremely unsatisfactory and constitutes a cover-up. In this regard, I would like to clarify a speech I made on Thursday, 18 December before Christmas. I should have been more precise when I dissociated myself and my activities from the board of St. Vincent's Hospital, not from the hospital itself. I have nothing but respect for the sterling work done by my nursing and medical colleagues in St. Vincent's.