Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Gallagher's amendment, which is that No. 17 be taken before No. 1. We should not make a political football of the cervical cancer screening fiasco. There are very serious consequences for people involved. I offer my deepest concerns and sympathy to all the people involved who have serious issues relating to this matter.

The lack of attention by the HSE led us to this problem. Again, there is a bigger problem here and it is something we might need to look at. There has been a call over the years to take power and responsibility from politicians. This is one of the problems that has led us to this terrible scenario with cervical cancer screening. Nobody is responsible. A politician has to stand for election every number of years. If the people do not like the politician or the politician is not raising the concerns people have, be they with the health boards, complications with councils, planning or development plans, people can choose not to re-elect that politician.

There has been a serious disconnect. There was a great drive to put in faceless people who would make impartial decisions but we have seen where many of these impartial decisions have led us. Instead of worrying about more minor things and squabbling about different things here, the most important thing we should be doing here as politicians is making people responsible. Politicians are responsible because they stand for election. They must be elected, be it to the Seanad, the Dáil or the local council. When people are elected to these fora, they must stand before the people again, be it in four or five years' time or whenever that comes around. If they are not doing their work and if ordinary people have a concern like a problem with their health board or council or with legislation and their elected representative is not cutting the mustard, they will get rid of them. It is something we must look at seriously. The day of faceless people and faceless positions answering to nobody has to end. This is a watershed moment in Irish politics.