Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá mise ag iarraidh labhairt faoin mórphictiúr más féidir liom. I want to address the big picture. I am not here to blame one person or other. I suggest that we look at solutions. That is the background I have come from. One starts to see a pattern across various Government agencies of pretty fundamental cock-ups. There are people very close to all our hearts whose families - brothers, sisters, wives, daughters or whatever - have questions in respect of smear tests, where we are going, what we are going to do and what the situation for them is. It is part of an epidemic. I suggest that the Leader speak to the Minister for Finance and ask him to consider bringing forward a restructured version of the Bill that I brought to the House a year an a half ago. This is partly coming from me wearing my business hat. How can a Minister be expected to understand and see everything that is happening in her or his Department? There are 110,000 employees under the aegis of the Department of Health. I believe the Minister is actually doing the very best he could be doing given the circumstances. I am also encouraged by what was said in the Dáil yesterday, which was challenging but broadly understanding of the Minister's position.

What I suggest is the following. We should have some form of a national oversight and audit commission so that every three to five years every State and semi-State agency would be audited in respect of its fitness for purpose, whether it is doing its job properly and its effectiveness. That auditor's report would be made available to the Minister and to both Houses of the Oireachtas.