Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In its report, the Mental Health Commission escalated concerns to the HSE; however, as far as I know, the HSE did not escalate them to the Minister of State responsible for mental health. She said that on the floor of the Dáil when I asked a question about it. She knew there were concerns but did not know their nature. To me, that is a big gap. As legislators, we have a responsibility in this regard. At many times, it must feel like we are critical – we are where it is warranted – but I would like to think we focus on solution-based measures. Having a Minister of State in the dark about some of the concerns is not good practice. Why was the Minister of State not aware of the nature of the concerns? If there are concerns or gaps referred to in other reports concerning the HSE, has the Minister of State been told about them? If not, why not?