Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

I understand the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, said that during the debate. We need clarity and a timeline, with respect, on the safeguarding legislation and, crucially, on the issue of HIQA powers. People are desperately seeking a clear pathway for making complaints, including a pathway to escalate a complaint. That is sadly lacking. As the Taoiseach rightly said, people are seeking a clear indication that HIQA has effective sanctions available to it, including the sanction of temporary closure, if necessary. I sat yesterday in a café in my constituency with a family whose mother had been severely badly treated in a nursing home. They pointed out to me that the café could be closed temporarily if food standards fell short of statutory rules, but the nursing home cannot be shut down in the same way. That is where we need to go. We need effective sanctions and effective complaint pathways.

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