Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take it from that that the Minister is aware that direct provision did not feature once in the minutes of the NPHET committee, not even once. The Minister can tell me if I am wrong and I will be corrected, but that tells me then that it was not given priority at all by NPHET. Everything has been reactionary, every single step. I thank the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, for their efforts, but it has all been reactive through pressure and through the suffering of people.

I welcome the clarification that the Policing Authority is monitoring the legislation. That is absolutely essential. I also welcome that the Minister is getting regular reports from the Garda Commissioner. Is the Minister satisfied that the recording of incidents on PULSE and CAD are up to speed and appropriate? I say that in the context of looking at the two interim reports from the Policing Authority and those reports remind us that the human rights in question are "being willingly...sacrificed by members of the public in order to protect life and human safety but they [human rights] remain the foundation of contemporary society and its legal framework". I was one of those Teachtaí who most reluctantly gave my support to the legislation on the basis that we would have absolutely frank disclosure regarding all aspects of that legislation. I am afraid that has not happened concerning nursing homes etc. That is not for discussion here, however, so I welcome what the Minister said regarding the Policing Authority.

I also want to quote where the Policing Authority report stated that it must be ensured that there is a "constant readiness to return to previous policing [activity]". In other words, this legislation is so draconian and unusual that it has to go and we must be ready to let it go as soon as possible. In that context, I am going to ask a question about direct provision centres. When I said they were ignored, I wrote to the HSE and I did not go public. I went through a series of emails and shared my concerns about direct provision. Can the Minister believe that after numerous emails I was told it was a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality, when I was sharing my concerns in respect of health? I thank the Minister for answering me.

We then got a briefing document on 2 April where we were told that community healthcare organisations, CHOs, were assessing all centres where people were living in congregated settings. Were those assessments carried out for the nine CHOs? When were the assessments carried out and what were the results?

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