Mr. Vivian Geiran:

By way of conclusion and to continue the theme of positivity begun by Professor Kelly, we have a certain degree of clarity and agreement in terms of what needs to change broadly in relation to culture change, as we discussed, and the need for urgency in the rate and level of change that is happening, with the ultimate goal that we are trying to get better outcomes for the people involved who may, as Professor Phelan indicated, be ourselves at some stage in the future. It is worth highlighting Ms O’Connor’s point that we have good people in the system and good staff and so on. I would emphasise the need for all of that system, the staff and other people in it, to be supported by legislation, by the role of oversight, governance and monitoring bodies, such as HIQA, or otherwise, is very important.

We have a broadly shared understanding of what is needed. We definitely need legislation that is underpinned by human rights. We need an independent, statutory social work led adult safeguarding agency. We need to clarify, right now and into the future, responsibilities and accountabilities within the system, mandatory reporting from, right away, better data, research and co-ordination, and also in the interim, better information being made available to people at all levels and better and more training. Ultimately, we need a plan with clear responsibilities and accountabilities. Incorporated in that, we definitely need to hear more of the voice of the service users and draw more on the experience and expertise of social work.