Ms Carol Grogan:

In response to Deputy Higgins, I make the point that we have all referred to the need for safeguarding legislation. In the absence of such legislation, our key focus is to ensure that people living in designated centres are active participants in their own care and decisions. That can happen now. We advocate for it all the time. We have seen the change because we have widened the conversation. We are talking about safeguarding and everything it encompasses. That, in itself, is changing the narrative in respect of how people can be active participants in their own care. It has to be proactive but it can only be proactive if everybody knows and understands their responsibilities. That can be done now in preparation for any legislation that is coming in. In addition, reporting and transparency are so important. There is a statutory responsibility on providers to report to HIQA. That transparency is crucial. We publish our inspection reports in the hope that services will use them to learn from the experiences of others, such as providers that have good practices and systems in place.

I ask Mr. Colfer to address the issues in respect of congregated settings and the importance of the voices in that regard.