Ms Patricia Rickard-Clarke:

I will answer the question on an independent statutory authority. We see it as a small enough body which, if were to carry an investigation or whatever, would contract in the necessary expertise. However, its main role would be setting out standards for services. It would not provide services. HIQA and the HSE provide the services. There would be no duplication. As stated, there are huge gaps at the moment. There is no authority that sets standards, monitors and receives reports from people. As regards care assistants who tried to report within their organisations, matters were not escalated or dealt with. There is a need for a safeguarding plan.

I mentioned also that the function of such an authority would be to ensure that there would be training, education and public awareness about issues. Therefore, it will not be duplicating roles but it would have statutory authority to intervene and ensure that action would be taken when issues arise and that people would be held accountable for what they do and how they interact. It is really important people understand that this would not involve duplication because we have nothing in place at the moment. The wider community and safeguarding issues really need to be addressed. The principles of standards for the HSE are across the board, but we need that overarching body to ensure that they-----