Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Finally, as regards the issue of elderly care and health facilities, a lot of this started in 1976 with the Maud McInerney case. Then we had an Ombudsman's report and we ended up with litigation and a redress scheme. In the same way as we have a Ombudsman for Children, is there not now a need for an ombudsman or a commissioner for elderly care or that whole area? My understanding is that there has been one in Wales since 2006, I think, and one in Northern Ireland since 2011. If there were someone like that, some of the issues that have tended to carry on and drag on might come to the fore at a far earlier stage and, as a result, we might get good decisions earlier.