Ms Mary Dunnion:

I thank the Deputy for his questions. We are glad to hear he met somebody who was complimenting HIQA because there is often a healthy tension between those delivering the service and those it regulates. On the Deputy's point regarding whistleblowers, we get a lot of information from service users and people employed by the service. There are a number of examples of where we received information and it instigated an unannounced inspection by us, not because we accepted what the person reported but to investigate whether there was any credence to the issue that he or she raised. In some cases, there has been and in others there has not. We will always follow up on detail like that.

Similarly in the context of any of the groups we regulate and monitor we have a system in place such that all information requested, queries on services or reporting about a service, are taken on board, analysed and used to inform our inspections, to target some of our types of inspections and also to inform policy. For example, the use of restraint is an issue that has been raised with us many times by people working within or using the services. This year, we hope to issue a guidance on restraint, which we hope will inform policy going forward and will be used as best practice in centres for vulnerable people. That is one example of information we received and how we responded to it to inform best practice.

On Deputy Harty's question regarding consistency across geographical areas, the Office of the Chief Inspector is determined by the Health Act. It determines our role, what we do and to what standards a service must be compliant. In that context, we are not cognisant of resources but we are aware of how we manage them. For example, most of the resource implications are in a physical environment. This is coming to the fore now in terms of disability centres. While there is a national policy for people to transition from congregated settings to the community, that process will take a long time. Also, people have lived in these centres for 30 years and so moving them is often not the right thing to do. If a centre requires a considerable investment in resources to improve its structure, we agree to register it with a condition. For example, if the centre can produce a timed plan, say, three years, to improve the environment for people living there then we register it. That is a really important piece for us and the centres. For example, we know of a disability centre that requires a €900,000 investment in order to comply with regulation 15 of the disability regulations. That centre does not have €900,000, nor would one expect it to have it. However, what one hopes for the people living in that centre is that in three years time the physical environment will have improved. We take cognisance in the context of directing them towards a plan to achieve that.