Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In effect, we are saying that we do not have the houses or the rehabilitation teams. Should we be taking stock of what we are doing at the moment? Should the Mental Health Commission as an organisation set out a clear pathway by which decongregation happens in terms of what needs to be done to make it proper? We must bear in mind that everybody is an individual and there are different needs for different people. One size does not fit all. It is complex but at the end of the day, we are talking about people who need help. If they have a setting they can go into but do not have the rehabilitation support to allow them to develop as best they can, are we not failing them?

The last issues I will raise goes back to the question that was raised earlier about Owenacurra Centre. I am not awfully familiar with it but I have received correspondence in respect of the issue. I ask the commission to engage with the members who have serious issues about this. The witnesses are protected within the committee but there are questions. They cannot talk about it yet. They have been on public radio and in newspapers talking about it and they cannot talk to parents or families. Something needs to be done in that regard rather than having further aggravation for the residents, as was expressed here by members. I ask the witnesses to perhaps reflect on that and come back with more answers rather than just saying they cannot talk about things. I ask that in good faith. It is important because at the end of the day, it is not about us as members or the commission. The families who are affected by this need to get a bit more confidence about how we treat the person at the centre of all this. I will leave it at that. There are many questions I could ask the witnesses and they may not be able to go there.

I will mention one final issue regarding a review the commission is carrying out at the moment. When might that be complete? Does the commission just publish it? Does the Minister have to go through it before it is published? What is the process with that?