David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Time and again we see scandal in our healthcare services and time and again we see no action, accountability, consequences or change. We saw it with the Grace case, the Brandon case, CervicalCheck and now CAMHS in Kerry and the appalling way those children were treated. We know there was poor clinical oversight, mismanagement and the appalling treatment of a whistleblower who came forward. The pattern is the same. The whistleblower was thrown under the bus and there was no change or consequences for those who failed.

Take the Grace case as an example. In 1995, a complaint of sexual abuse was made by a former resident of the foster home that Grace was in. In 1996, the health authorities decided that they would remove Grace from that home but that decision was reversed by the health authorities in the same year. It was reported that:

When removed in 2009 from the foster family, Grace 'cut a sad figure' in a 'wretched' state, frail, dirty and unkempt, with health problems due to a poor diet and psychosis. Her only possession was a child’s toy which she held onto 'for dear life' and to which she still clings.

Yet there was no accountability, no consequences and no change. We see it with the Brandon case. The report is unpublished but we know of horrific abuse of people in that setting. Now we see it again in CAMHS in Kerry where young people were treated so appallingly. The whistleblower was treated with disdain and was the person who paid the price. It is the same old story. No accountability at the heart of the HSE. There is no culture of accountability. We cannot continue to come into this Chamber and say we are shocked, outraged and disappointed and then there is no change and no one is held to account. The Oireachtas must decide if it is going to deal with the culture whereby there is no accountability or transparency and no one is held to account once and for all or if it is going to continue to keep coming back to all of these crises and scandals and simply say that we are shocked. We all know we are not shocked because it happens time and again. There is a real question for the political system. We must decide once and for all that we will embrace a new culture in the Department of Health and in the HSE and that we will do our very best for all those children in CAMHS and elsewhere who have been failed by the system.

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