Ms Orla Keane:

Since 2020, the commission has been talking about the lack of authorised officers. We understand several people have been trained but have never taken up the post. People who are authorised officers generally do it as an add-on to their existing role. We believe there needs to be a dedicated unit. It may be a centralised unit that has regional offices in the context of the new structure of the HSE, which is the REOs. This would be linked to the relevant approved centres rather than being linked to counties because the authorised officer will be bringing people to the approved centres or recommending local GPs bring people to the approved centres.

That is where we think the link should be. We think there should be a centralised office because it would be in charge of recruitment, training and ensuring people have the appropriate skills and expertise. Something we are very keen on is that, either in the regulations or the code, there is guidance that authorised officers have the appropriate qualifications and skills to do this job, that they would be full-time and that there would be a 24-7 service. As we know, things do not just happen from nine to five. This is a resource issue.