Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

That is the key point. One of the whistleblowers at the centre of this case has made the point that, sadly, it is not the only such case. In his opinion, it represents dozens of others in the same region over a 20 to 30 year time span. It is fair to say there is a systemic problem in the HSE. It is very much the old attitude that when the church or State is threatened, the response is to say nothing, admit nothing, call in the lawyers and see what happens. That mentality has traditionally done untold damage to citizens and vulnerable people in Ireland. It is not good enough for service users. It costs the State a huge amount of money later on, not only in the emotional damage to citizens but in the financial cost to the taxpayer. The modus operandiappears to be that when a mistake is made, even if it is innocent, it is not investigated properly. The response is that the HSE investigates itself and the people who are doing the investigating are former HSE staff under new guises of Tusla or one of the other independent companies that operate in this area. It is really the HSE investigating itself. That is why we have had the problem and that is why people have remained there. Some people who are currently employed by the HSE are responsible for that and have to be dealt with. I hope we all return to address this matter in the next Dáil because it is a matter of urgency. I am glad the commission has been decided upon but we need to look at its terms of reference.

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