Seanad Report:Brendan Ryan (Lab) demanded to know why there was a virtual secrecy clause in a Bill dealing with the care of the elderly.
He noted that under a Government amendment to the Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill the identities of the providers of care for people in their own homes were to be kept confidential.
Health Minister of State Seán Power said that the effect of the amendment would facilitate the exemption of VAT from privately-provided home care.
Mr Ryan asked why the details about the homes and addresses of the providers of home care, which could include commercial entities, should be regarded as confidential. Why were the public not to know who the HSE contracted to provide such services?
"How are we going to find out if the various checks about people's probity and reliability and truthfulness . . . if we don't know the name of a provider?"
The providers could be commercial companies, he pointed out.
Mr Power said there was nothing to prevent Oireachtas members from getting the information that Mr Ryan claimed was going to be kept hidden.
Mr Ryan rejoined that the proposed legislation provided that this kind of information should not be given.
If the Government amendment was as innocuous as the Minister claimed, it should be taken out of the Bill.
Otherwise, he would have to press for a change at the next stage.
Mary White (FF) stressed that there should be no ambiguity in regard to the Bill. She accepted that there was no intention to mislead the public, but she believed that the language in the amendment was unnecessarily complicated.
The amendment was passed.