Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the Report on the Wards of Court, there is a certain degree of urgency around this because the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 is going through the Final Stages in the Seanad. I believe that Ms Mary Farrell and the families were expecting that this matter might be addressed in that legislation. From speaking with the Minister, I understand that it is not the appropriate legislation with which to address the matter of wards of court because the intent and purpose of this legislation is to discontinue the wards of court mechanism. However, this underlines the need to have an independent review and to have the Comptroller and Auditor General conduct an audit.

Once the legislation is through then we would be entering into another round of dispensation, so I think there should be a sense of urgency with this matter to have it dealt with as quickly as possible. People are in exposed situations regarding the investment process that took place, how it is going to operate and how the legislation is not retrospective. We need to see how the situation is where the exposure is at a given time.