David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Did the witnesses consider it in the context of this Bill? Because it is not in it does not mean that should not be in it. Safeguarding is obviously very important. It has been the subject of a lot of public debate on how care is provided in this State. The vast majority of care, I would argue, is delivered to a very high standard, but where standards fall and where we have examples of neglect, we have a duty to make sure we have the highest level of safeguarding protections in place. Waiting for something else to be done when a Bill was going to be presented to us was not satisfactory. Again, perhaps that is a matter for the Minister as opposed to the officials who are here.

I will leave it at that. I have a lot of frustrations with this Bill but my overall frustration is that we are a long way from a statutory home care scheme, that is for sure. While I welcome the licensing and regulations, what we were promised and what we got in this area are, unfortunately, two different things. I will leave it at that.