Health information Bill and High Court appointment
Deputy McDonald questions delays to the health information and patient safety legislation and asks when a successor to the retiring High Court President will be appointed; the exchange is repeatedly ruled partly out of order.
I understand that the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, is due to publish the heads of the health information and patient safety Bill today. Is this the same proposal that was announced by the then Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, in March 2014 and included in the HSE service plan of that year?
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The Minister, Deputy Reilly, failed to honour this commitment, unfortunately, and the continued under-funding of the health system has further reduced patient safety. Can the Tánaiste tell the House whether the full Bill will be published before the election? Is this just another piece of pre-election bluster? Is it not "what you tend to do during an election", as Deputy Rabbitte might have it?
In light of the early retirement of Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns in December of this year, can the Tánaiste bring any clarity to the issue of who will be appointed as the next President of the High Court?
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When might that appointment be announced?
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Will the Tánaiste confirm that the current Attorney General is not being considered for that post?
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That would be one way of getting her out of there.