Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tacú go huile is go hiomlán leis an mhéid atá ráite ag an Seanadóir Ó Dálaigh maidir leis an dream i Meiriceá atá i bhfaitíos ós rud é nach bhfuil a fhios acu cá seasann siad ó thaobh an stádas atá acu sa tír sin. I support what Senator Mark Daly said about the undocumented and would support a debate on this important matter.

I would like to again draw the attention of the Leader to the issues around the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, Bahrain and accreditation being given to doctors there. We need to discuss the decision of the Medical Council to grant unconditional accreditation to RCSI Bahrain which made no reference to the human rights situation in Bahrain and its impact on local training hospitals used by the college. We need the Minister to clarify that relevant national and international standards used by the Medical Council require the consideration of such things as patient safety, appropriate supervision, a safe learning environment for students, educational outcomes, medical ethics, human rights and social accountability. It is imperative that we uphold the best international standards around human rights. If bodies here are accrediting agencies and hospitals in places such as Bahrain we must ensure that those standards are upheld. A debate on the issues I have raised would be important.

Another important issue is who in charge of Irish Water. In 2009 a family moved into a house in Connemara and connected to the local authority water system, but have never had a proper supply of water. We spent the past two and half years contacting Irish Water to try to alleviate the situation. The family has three small children and in the past week they spent five days without any water. We keep getting fobbed off by Irish Water. We were told that there is a temporary issue in the local area and supply has decreased but, to be quite honest, that is nonsense. There is a need for a specific fix for this situation. Irish Water is reneging on its duty to supply water to customers.

It raises the broader issue of accountability in respect of Irish Water. I am sure everybody here is using the Oireachtas Members' line on a regular basis to contact Irish Water. We receive a pleasant email from whoever happens to answer the call on the day, but one cannot find out who is responsible for what is happening in a local area regarding sewage or water. We used to have regular clinics in the House whereby Irish Water officials would come in and we could ask them very specific questions about what was going on. I do know not know its plans for regional areas and regional water and sewerage issues in the Connemara or Galway areas. A number of years ago we heard it had a specific plan around regional issues but we have not heard anything from it since. There is a significant lack of transparency, responsibility and sense of who is in charge, what the money is being spent on and why there are so many issues across the water system. It is not just a lack of investment or money being spent. We need to know what it is doing, what its plans are and how we can hold to account to make sure those things happen. I call for a debate on the issue.