Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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The Order of Business shall be No.1, Shannon Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014, Order for Second Stage and Second Stage, to be taken at 3.45 p.m. and to be adjourned no later than 5.30 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes and those of all other Senators not to exceed five minutes; and No. 46(9), motion re abductions in Nigeria to be taken at 5.30 p.m. and to conclude no later than 6.30 p.m., with the contribution of all Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be called on to reply no later than 6.28 p.m.

Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I would like to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, the wording of which I will deal with towards the end of my contribution. It will involve the Minister of Health coming to the House.

The Leader may remember that we on this side of the House raised on the Adjournment last February our concerns about speculation and rumours that a report was being circulated privately within the HSE on the dismantling of maternity services in the HSE west and north-west hospital group area. I had information that a consultancy firm, Health Partnership, had prepared such a report for the HSE. I expressed my concern about the options considered, including the closure of a number of maternity units led by obstetricians throughout the country. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, and I had a robust exchange in which he wanted to talk about the past but I wanted to discuss services in the future.
It has taken me some time to secure a copy of the Health Partnership report, marked "Strictly confidential," which is in the hands of the HSE. What does it propose? It proposes to dismantle obstetric-led maternity services in the HSE west and north-west hospital group. Yesterday, when the Taoiseach was in Sligo, he vowed there was no threat whatsoever to services, that all of these things would be decided in the future and there was nothing to worry about. The people of Roscommon, Sligo and other counties know only too well that such a word is not so good. One can understand the concerns of people in that area when the Taoiseach and others, including Tony Canavan, the chief operating officer of the Galway and Roscommon University Hospital Group, say that all these things are a matter for consideration and that no decisions have been made. In the discussion on the Adjournment on 19 February 2014, the Minister said that when considering this issue the Government would have regard to national and not local concerns. That was a bit different from the Taoiseach's rhetoric on the news yesterday and Mr. Canavan's remarks today as reported in The Irish Times.Senator Mullins in particular would be interested to know that when asked about the existence of a report on 19 February, the HSE initially said that it did not exist, but later on the same morning it confirmed to a news agency that it did exist.
The report states:

Option 4: Galway main hub
- retain one satellite at Letterkenny
- close the units at Portiuncula
- close Mayo General Hospital
- close Sligo General Hospital
- merge with Galway and others (Mullingar and Portlaoise)
... Develop standalone midwife-led antenatal and postnatal clinics on hospital campuses.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Will Senator MacSharry provide the wording of his proposed amendment?

Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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Let us have that debate this afternoon.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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What is the Senator's amendment?

Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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The amendment is in case it was not crystal clear from what I have outlined, that the Minister for Health comes to the House to debate the contents of the report which proposes to close maternity services in the Taoiseach's constituency, in Senator Mullins's constituency, in my constituency and in Donegal as well.

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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More scaremongering.

Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I would like a debate on the Guerin report, which has been published since we last sat on Thursday and which many of us have had an opportunity to read in recent days. It sets out a litany of errors, negligence and incompetence, which were exposed by the allegations of Sergeant Maurice McCabe, as reviewed by senior counsel, Sean Guerin. Chapter 19 makes particularly concerning reading, as it refers to what can only be described as the dysfunctional workings of the Department of Justice and Equality and errors and oversights in its investigation of the allegations of Sergeant McCabe. I would like a debate on this as soon as possible.

I am conscious that we on the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality have called in the Secretary General of the Department to appear on Thursday morning and I understand we are awaiting a response from him. All the committee members have agreed it would be appropriate to call him in to talk to him, in particular, about the findings of Sean Guerin in chapter 19 of the report. We on the committee also have hearings tomorrow on mechanisms for Garda oversight, which are very important but, notwithstanding that we are in the process of dealing with these other matters at the justice committee, it would be appropriate to have a broad ranging debate on the Guerin report in the House because it raises serious questions about the system and culture of policing throughout the State and not just in Bailieborough.

I welcome the debate later on the motion we all agreed unanimously should be put to the House calling on the Government to offer all available assistance and support to the Nigerian Government in its attempts to secure the immediate release of the schoolchildren abducted by Boko Haram. I thank the Leader for that.

The Cabinet earlier approved a new law to support the right of workers to participate in collective bargaining, which I welcome. This was a commitment in the programme for Government. The trade union movement, in particular, has been seeking this for a long time and it has also been Labour Party policy for a long time. The legislation is very important, as it will provide protection against victimisation for workers who seek to exercise their rights and it will provide much greater clarity for both workers and employers about what constitutes collective bargaining and the role of the Labour Court in collective bargaining. It will also provide greater clarity as to the requirements to be met by a trade union advancing a claim under the Industrial Relations Acts. It is important legislation, which is very much overdue as a result of various Supreme Court decisions on collective bargaining. I very much welcome the fact that amendments to industrial relations legislation will be brought forward by the Government and I look forward to the debate in this House on that.