Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, to the Seanad and the opportunity to speak to the Bill. I commend Senator Keith Swanick for the work he has put into it, as well for its intent and import.

In a different era, once people reached a certain age, they were deemed to be beyond use. The aim of the Bill, agreed to by the Department, is to ensure a cohort of people who have a body of knowledge, practical experience and wisdom will not necessarily be lost. If we look at the legacy in the public service in the period from 2006 to 2014, a host of people were lost to it, resulting in a loss of competency and experience. People in some of the local authorities tell us that corporate wisdom and intellect have been lost. In this Bill Senator Keith Swanick is seeking to ensure people will not necessarily be put out to pasture, as some other Senators referred to it.

I am struck by the point made by Senator Colm Burke. In the last Dáil I chaired the health committee. One of the issues we considered was recruiting staff in smaller hospitals and GPs in rural Ireland. As we tidy up this Bill and make it better - I do not mean to be negative - would it not empower and give the health system more oxygen if we were to move beyond the present structure and out of the silo in which we operate? The health care system is evolving and changing. Senator Keith Swanick has been a GP for many years and general practice has changed since he began. The hospital network has also changed. As we move towards the hospital group model and investing more in primary care services, the Bill becomes more relevant and a necessity. There is a need for the Department, the HSE and all interested bodies to sit down and engage on it.

Senator Máire Devine spoke about nurses. She is right.Perhaps the one thing that has not changed is that the nursing burden is as heavy as it was. Having worked in a hospital, I am very cognisant of the huge amount of work done by nurses.

We need to plan forward, as Senator Colm Burke rightly said. It is a matter of having this kind of discussion on such a Bill to bring it to its next Stage. I am disappointed we could not do this as representatives on the all-party, non-Seanad Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare. It is all fine for some Senators to come to the House and be critical of Government, but when Government party Senators were willing to go on that all-party committee, we could not do it. This will set the roadmap for the future. This is why I was happy to put Senator Swanick's Bill on the Seanad clár so that we could have a debate in a non-adversarial, non-confrontational way about how our health system should, can and must look, which is about being flexible and changing.

The future of our health care is not just about staffing; it is also about policy. This is why the Minister deserves huge credit and praise for the pursuit of Healthy Ireland and the way in which we tackle obesity. We must have the alcohol Bill brought before the House and consider it in its totality so that we can go out beyond the spectre of the vested interests, go into the communities and see the differences it can make and the challenges we must overcome. The same goes for the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and the work we are doing on mental health.

Members have mentioned the issue of retention and recruitment, and it is important that our Health Service Executive and hospital groups are empowered in this regard. I am a very strong advocate of the hospital groups because they are about the sharing of knowledge, information and resources and ensuring we can get value for our patients. This is not about money, but the hospital that performs best will be able to retain and be that primary hospital group within the region.

Senator Burke has always said at the Committee on Health and in this Chamber that we are now competing in a world market, and this is true. This means we must adapt and be flexible, and that is a matter of incentivising people to move back to Ireland, whether nurses, doctors or other health care professionals such as occupational therapists, OTs, or physiotherapists. We must give them opportunities to work in our country. However, equally, there is a cohort or group of people who do not necessarily want to retire. I have been very struck by what I have seen on my travels to North America where one meets many people aged over 70 who are still working and making a contribution. I do not want to live in an ageist society in which because people are a certain age, they must hang up their boots up and stand down. That is a bad kind of society we live in because there are people who have contributions to make. My father spent all his life as a nurse. He is 80 years of age. He is still making a contribution as chairman of the board of management of a special needs school.

The Bill and, by extension, its component parts can help us to achieve what I have outlined. I commend Senator Swanick. I am happy to second Senator Colm Burke's amendment. I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Harris, for not ruling the Bill out but giving it a further reading. This is important because the kind of politics in which we can engage by having this extended period leads to better legislation and better outcomes, and that is what we are about on this side of the House at least.