Mr. Ger Deering:

I thank the Senator. In terms of the follow-up, I am conscious that a lot of what I am talking about here is work that is ongoing in the office and is not something new that I will introduce. I am very conscious that staff in the office follow up. For example, they work with people in the HSE. We are all conscious of the situation the HSE finds itself in at the moment. Staff will follow up with the HSE on the work being done to deal with sensitive areas where people are at the end of their lives.

We know from the report that in the past conditions were not optimal in hospitals and places like that. It is reassuring that quite a few hospitals and similar organisations have put in place a number of steps so that people can have the dignity they need at such a difficult time.

The Senator mentioned the report on people aged under 65 living in institutional settings. I am involved in a charity where there was a congregated setting of people. We had been working very hard to try to get those people out into the community but the impetus required just was not there. All of those people have recently taken up their own homes. There was no reason for the vast majority of them to be in a congregated setting other than this is what happened traditionally over the years. It is about engagement. My office will constantly engage. I will endorse and support that. We will not let them go off the boil, for want of a better way of putting it. We will be seeking reports from those public sector bodies as to what they are doing to implement these reports.