Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is a question of oversight and accountability. One cannot get anything. Once one goes into the system, whether it is the Mental Health Commission, the HSE, Tusla or anything else, it is just a constant circle. Ms O'Reilly spoke in her opening statement about accountability and transparency. That is where my bugbear was. As I said at the start, these are people, human beings, who are not being treated properly within a system. There does not seem to be a mechanism for it.

I want to congratulate Ms O'Reilly on the protected disclosure legislation as well. I watched that for about 18 months and I worked on trying to mirror the same legislation here. One sees the flip side now where it is not up to the whistleblower to prove the wrongdoing. It has flipped around now so that the onus is on whoever the accusations were made against. As I said, I have looked at all avenues here. I apologise for putting Ms O'Reilly on the spot. I am at my wits' end as I look for a solution and listen to family members. The most vulnerable people in their families have been mistreated, and yet there seems to be no accountability or oversight. Nobody in health is being held to account for this. There are no answers. As Ms O'Reilly said, when there is no accountability, and when you have to go from voluntary to mandatory to get accountability and responsiveness from individuals, there is something wrong with the system.