Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

We could do a session with the Minister for older people and HIQA and tease out many issues around nursing homes. It is certainly something we will come back to.

I have a number of questions for Safeguarding Ireland. One of my key frustrations is the length of time it is taking to progress legislation. The Oireachtas and TDs, including Ministers, often call for increased productivity in public services across the board but we need a more productive Parliament and to progress legislation more quickly. We are seeing a national safeguarding committee set up. We had a Private Members' Bill in 2017 and widespread support for legislation in the House but nothing was done to progress it. One year ago, the Law Reform Commission published its report and draft legislation. I find it deeply frustrating the Oireachtas has not tackled this, legislated or progressed legislation. It is clear from Safeguarding Ireland's opening statement that it believes the Law Reform Commission draft legislation should be progressed immediately and I agree with that. Are there any matters not provided for or addressed in the draft that should be included in the final legislation?