Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the witnesses and this session. We are touching on enormously important issues. The witnesses have painted a stark and damning picture of a wholly deficient system, frankly, with regard to legislation and to the appalling lack of interagency co-operation between the big beasts of the HSE, HIQA and An Garda Síochána, and all the agencies that need to play a fundamental role.

The issue at Áras Attracta was 21 years ago. Safeguarding Ireland and the Irish Association of Social Workers have done great work. This has been going on for years. My question is for Patricia Rickard-Clarke because she has been working in this area for so long. What are the blockages to making progress in this space? As I have said, there is a number of big beasts involved here. Ms Rickard-Clarke answered the question on the Department that should take the leading role in this regard. While there is a role for us in the Oireachtas, crucially, the blockages may lie elsewhere.