Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With the greatest of respect, that is a very universal statement. We have met people who do not have medical cards and have been waiting for a prolonged period. There are other examples in respect of what Mr. Tyndall has just said. I am not sure that the evidence we have heard in other presentations or on our own visits points to a situation where these sorts of things are sorted. What Mr. Tyndall has just said sounded universal to me. We have raised things with the Department that are not sorted. I do not know that the universality of that is accurate.

My question is coming from a sincere place in trying to further enable the work of the ombudsman and the remit for our guests. The frustration for people finding themselves in these situations across the board probably rests with other agencies and the Department. Are there instances where the Ombudsman is consistently identifying a problem, whether identified by the residents themselves, politicians, NGOs, or agencies, which is not being properly addressed, rectified or sorted by the Department? If that is the case, how do we, collaboratively, ensure the Department and Government rectify such a problem? Not all of the evidence points that way because significant progress has been made in some fields but there is a substantial amount of evidence relating to emergency accommodation in particular that points to these issues not being resolved. It also suggests there is not a will to resolve them in many instances.