Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will leave it at that. Does Mr. Breslin not accept that some of the section 39 organisations are quite large employers, very large employers in some cases, providing significant services in areas, in particular intellectual and physical disability, and there seems to be no appreciation either from the Department or the HSE of what they have to do on a daily basis to try and comply with HIQA's enforcement and to provide safe services to people. When one meets some of the people who are volunteers in many cases on the boards, they are in breach of their fiduciary duties, they are not far off trading recklessly and their auditors are at their wits end trying to address their accounts. Pension provision is being funded out of current expenditure. Is there anybody looking at this strategically to see whether something could be done either to rationalise the services and force them to co-operate more or to do something to help them? If we allow the situation to continue people will have diminished services. We are talking about very vulnerable people whose families are under huge pressure. I am beginning to think there is no system in place to assess the services and examine the broader supports that are required in the areas of physical and intellectual disability.