Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank the correspondent for again bringing these important matters to the attention of the committee. There is a role for this committee, insofar as commitments have been given that the Comptroller and Auditor General would have oversight of what I understand to be more than €2.2 billion in expenditure that the State holds for wards of this nature.

Could the Comptroller and Auditor General could give an update as to whether or not there has been any interaction with his office in respect of this happening? If it has not, I think we should write to the relevant Department, which I understand to be the Department of Justice, to ask if that is still the intention and, if so, the timeframe for same.

We should inform the correspondent of that, as well as the points that the Chair has mentioned. There is also reference to the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill. It highlights some problems there. I understand that Bill is under the remit of health, as opposed to justice. In that vein, perhaps it would be useful if we could also send this correspondence to the health committee, in order to make it aware. It is my understanding that that legislation has gone through the Dáil and is now before the Seanad. However, perhaps the health committee might appreciate this correspondence.