Mr. Peter Tyndall:

The reason this report is with the committee is because our recommendations are generally accepted and then acted upon. We look across the work we do as an office and there are few areas where there are outstanding issues. Sometimes we get frustrated at the speed at which things are done but they generally are done.

I will choose a different example in the health field. We brought forward recommendations early on in my tenure about changes to the way complaints are handled within the HSE and the vast majority of those recommendations have been implemented. There has been constant engagement with the office on that. Action plans have been put in place and updated in how they have proceeded. We did it in the context of acute hospitals, for example, and the HSE extended the work to the community. There are good examples of engagement, although we do have areas of frustration in our work with the HSE. I will not talk about the treatment abroad scheme because I might get cross and there are areas of frustration but Departments and State agencies generally respond well to recommendations. This issue stands out in the sense of the length of time during which nothing has been done and that is why we highlighted it here.

Ms Cooney and I recently went to the National Rehabilitation Hospital to talk in the grand rounds about the Wasted Lives report. I will get Ms Cooney to say a little about the response we got but it was reassuring. Ms Cooney may also talk to the committee about some of the action that has been taken on Wasted Lives.