Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Whenever there are scandals in the public service the inevitable review concludes it is down to a "system failure". It is a loaded term and suggests there is some kind of automated process that has gone awry in some way and there is no need to hold an individual or, indeed, an entity responsible. A succession of scandals in the health service have been in the news in recent weeks. Just yesterday, we learned of a further scandal in disability services in the north west. A resident was able to access child exploitation material online on multiple occasions going back to 2016. Basic safeguarding procedures seem to have been either ignored or abandoned. Vulnerable children were seriously harmed in south Kerry child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. Residents with intellectual disabilities in a care home in Donegal were sexually abused with impunity and a child, Grace, with special needs in the south east was abandoned to an abusive foster home. Our most vulnerable citizens, who relied on the State to protect them, were instead physically, sexually or psychologically abused, and some of that went on for decades. The abuse was not a secret. People in positions of power knew what was going on.

In Donegal, the staff and management in that care home were aware of the horrific sexual abuse being perpetrated by a resident called Brandon. Their response to the abuser was to move him to different wards where he had new victims who were non-verbal and unable to advocate for themselves. They were left to suffer for a decade. The DPP has directed there will be no prosecutions in that case. We may never know the full extent of the abuse suffered by Grace. The State was supposed to protect her but instead it sent her to live with demons. They tortured her for about 20 years. In addition to Grace, the whistleblowers paid a hefty price. We recently learned the DPP will not prosecute any of the officials or State agencies that had a duty of care to Grace, despite the fact the Garda has recommended prosecutions for endangerment and negligence. In south Kerry, hundreds of children and their families suffered unimaginable trauma when they were prescribed inappropriate medications and it had devastating consequences both physically and psychologically. A rogue junior doctor who was not supervised or managed by anyone in senior management for years is probably going to take the fall. The system will remain intact.

All these scandals have a central feature, namely, that there is no accountability and a lack of consequences. What is the Taoiseach going to do to consign the term "system failure" to history and instead have real accountability built into the system, accountability that has real consequences, including the possibility of prosecution? Does the Taoiseach believe the lack of accountability undermines the vast majority of really good people who work in those services?

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