Ms Geraldine Fitzpatrick:

I understand where the Ombudsman is coming from, but with the benefit of having worked in the Department for the past eight years and prior to that in the Ombudsman's office, the Department has every respect for the law of the land. The position in which everybody has found themselves is very unfortunate. At the centre of it are those we are still trying to help. We have worked very hard to move on from the era when this happened. I appreciate the conclusions and reflections in Who Cares' and we have tried to use it to learn as best we can, but it is very difficult in an era when giving something to one person means taking it from someone else. Trying to keep the show on the road means we examine everything we do. The legacy issues we are dealing with are estate issues. Without prejudice, is any form of redress scheme the right thing to do in an era when we had to cut €10 million from the home help service last year? We all find it very difficult in the climate we are in. The Department of Health deals with nothing but hard cases. Nobody on our books does not require assistance of a very personal type. The Department has every respect for the law of the land in these circumstances, but we must manage our risks and challenges in the best interests of the State and our existing client base.