Ms Linda Kelly:

I wanted to come in on the point about criminal prosecutions, although this reflects anecdotal conversations I have had with members rather than formal figures. For our members in social care in particular, if they are assaulted by somebody accessing the service, they would have to prosecute the assailant in order for it to be a criminal offence. I do not know any social care worker who would go down that path, and I imagine Ms Chambers will affirm that point from a nursing and medical point of view. It is not in the nature of our healthcare staff to seek that sort of punitive arrangement even for the very people who have hurt them, unless in the most severe circumstance, and that is part of the problem. That is taken advantage of by employers in shirking their responsibilities and duty of care because they know it is easy to point the finger at staff and ask why, if they are so concerned about it, they do not go to the Garda. Employers know that very few healthcare staff will do that.

As Deputy Burke suggested, an involvement and engagement with the Garda, even to collate statistics and so on, would be welcome, but that can be only one aspect of the approach. People need to be safe in their employment and employers have a responsibility to make those workplaces safe. This goes back to the Senator’s point about there being a presence of An Garda Síochána, although I doubt the Garda has the resources for that. As Mr. Figgis said, security is at a minimum on our sites, with people having to walk around very large locations. What we need is an investment in the system and in making sure places are safe, not a response to a crisis whereby the Garda just attend a site for a few months as though that will calm everything. What people need is a consistent approach.