Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to the House.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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This is a technical amendment to update the reference to the "Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform" to the much catchier "Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform".

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister. This is a Bill on which he and his officials worked in collaboration with other Members of the Houses, including in the Opposition, as well as with advocates. It is a fully inclusive Bill. It is reflective of the Minister's commitment to openness and to listen and engage to ensure the end result is something that everybody is happy with. I know that patient advocates are very happy with this. I have been engaging with John Wall and others. All I can do is commend the Minister on the manner in which he conducted engagement on the Bill and the pre-legislative process. I have no doubt it will make a big difference to the lives of people. There will always be challenges but if we can deal with them in the same way as we have dealt with the Bill, the future of our health services is very bright. I say well done and I commend the officials because putting together the nuts and bolts of legislation is not easy. It requires a lot of hard work, late nights and long hours. The officials can be justifiably happy with the end result of their hard work.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senators for the speedy passage of the Bill through Committee and Remaining Stages. It is an important Bill as we know. It provides for mandatory open disclosure for serious patient safety incidents. It also provides for the notification of those incidents to the relevant regulator. It extends HIQA's remit to private hospitals, which is very important. It also contains provisions supporting clinical audit, something on which we need to move from strength to strength to continually increase patient safety.

As colleagues are aware, our goal on universal healthcare is very clear. One of the pillars of universal healthcare is driving down the costs of healthcare. Last night we debated a Bill to remove hospital charges for patients. It also means driving down waiting lists. I am very happy to say that there were 150,000 fewer men, women and children waiting longer than the agreed Sláintecare targets at the end of last year than there were at the peak of Covid. We have a lot of work to do but it is moving in the right direction.

Another pillar of universal healthcare is patient outcomes, including the patient experience. The patient safety Bill is critical to achieving the best possible safety and clinical outcomes for patients and to ensure that patients are listened to and respected and that their experiences and voices are put front and centre.

I thank Senators. I acknowledge the work done on the Bill by patient advocates over a significant period of time. It is an important Bill and I acknowledge the backing of many patient advocates for it. I acknowledge the substantial amount of work done by officials in the Department and by our teams, including our clinical teams, throughout the public health service to get the Bill to where it is today. It is new and groundbreaking legislation that will make the patient experience in our healthcare system better and safer.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank colleagues for their contributions.