Mr. Bernard O'Regan:

One of the matters referred to earlier was that the HSE will establish a committee to oversee the implementation of recommendations from the Ombudsman's report. That steering group will have responsibility for monitoring and tracking an action plan that will seek to implement all the recommendations. The number of people involved in the case management process structure will be a critical component of that. As part of the action plan, we will review what is currently there in terms of case management, we will see what the gaps are and we will make the case, through the normal processes, for where we need to provide additional resources to meet those gaps. We will also look at the system and practice used by case managers and key workers, including how they engage with people and what their role and function is.

To pick up on one of the points the Ombudsman made that it should not be the case that somebody gets lost in a system, if somebody is moving into a nursing home, albeit it is indicated for a short period, the case manager will have a role in ensuring that situation does not become impermeable. There will be an ongoing process to work with that person and other stakeholders to plan for the person to transition to what would be a more appropriate arrangement in that situation. That is a commitment as part of the work the steering committee and the HSE will undertake.