Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)

The Minister will know from the review and also from engagement with the ombudsman that one of the things he is really calling for is that the reports of the NRP should be shared with families and every effort be made to remove barriers to information. The frustration with timelines and communication with families can be seen throughout the report. Like everything in life, communication and clarity are key and that people are not left ghosted and left hanging. People are really suffering when they lose someone and we need to treat them with compassion.

In terms of the NRP, I would really appreciate if the Minister could make sure there is a commitment in the interim to communicating with families and delivering finalised reports to them. We need to make sure learnings from tragic deaths like this are responded to by the State in a co-ordinated and efficient way. It can be seen in the report that the ombudsman does not believe this is happening. We are not learning from these deaths and we have to do everything to make sure we can avoid future deaths.

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