Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to discuss this issue. I proposed an amendment to the Order of Business this morning. Last night I deliberated long and hard as I knew there would be repercussions and I did not do it lightly. I felt something had to be done and I was very disappointed - I still am - that not one other person in the Chamber seconded the amendment. We can all talk about how we tweeted about it and raised it on Facebook last night; we can all talk the talk, but we really need to do something about it. Yes, we are all shocked; everybody is shocked by what he or she saw, but we need to move to do something about it.

Last week it took a death close to Leinster House to have something done about homelessness. There was a death in Áras Attracta in 2012. I ask the Minister to, please, ensure there is not another one before something is done. Looking at the programme last night - we do not need to go back over it again - the hitting and the physical, psychological and mental cruelty were shocking. A manager walked in and sat on somebody and the reaction of the girl in question was to go back over to him. This shows the loving vulnerability of the patients, which is replicated throughout the country.

It was said to me this morning that I was emotional. Yes, I am personally involved and have somebody involved, but I am also deeply concerned about all of the others throughout the country. I have been inundated with calls from people who are upset and who, like me, have family members in care units, but I have also received calls from people who have no knowledge of what is going on. It is welcome that there are investigations, but I ask the Minister what is their timeline. We can talk the talk, but there is a need for urgent action. I dread to think of what things will be like for anybody who will be in respite or residential care tonight.

I have no qualms about the staff who look after my son. The vast majority who work in this area are absolutely beyond reproach, as we all know. It only takes two or three rotten apples to totally decimate the service, but it is not working. It is frightening that HIQA gave Áras Attracta a clean bill of health in May and here we are a couple of months later. I assure the Minister that this is replicated all over the place.

Senator Colm Burke asked how the people concerned were working there. I would like to talk about a service in which last year it was decided to cut all meals. When I asked what would happen to the kitchen staff, I was told they would be okay, that they were all going to have a carer's role. That was grand, if they wanted to perform that role, but they might have been taking on a role to which they were not suited. I am absolutely sure that whoever is there is making it work, but perhaps there are people in these roles who were deployed from other areas and do not want to be there. Last night we saw people who obviously should not have been in these roles. In my book, they should have been arrested today and have criminal charges brought against them. I say this publicly. What is being done? Why are they still on a salary? I know everybody needs to look at it fairly, but based on the television programme, something really needs to be done.

We need to have complete confidence that the most vulnerable are totally safe when in residential care. We talk about the new standards and so on, but, as I said this morning, the only way forward is to have a independent review. We do not need people associated with the HSE involved in this review, no matter how good or half impartial they are. We need those compiling the report to be completely independent of the HSE in order that parents can have complete confidence. I ask that this work continue on Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day and throughout the Christmas period. We will be finishing up next Thursday, which is one of the reasons I brought up the matter this morning. This issue is going to be kicked to touch and people will say, "Oh yeah, we will have a debate on it." As I said, I cannot go home thinking we had an opportunity to do something but did not take it. In my naivety I came here this morning thinking people would be so horrified that the whole place would be seeking action. Unfortunately, it is not.

It is greatly upsetting that only 2% of the services investigated are fully compliant. We are talking about whistleblowers and people reporting wrongdoings. On the programme last night we heard two people discuss a former employee who had reported abuses and their reaction was that it was brilliant that they had got rid of her. I was speaking to somebody today involved in a similar case who had worked in a service and reported bad practice with her colleagues and who had been bullied out of the place. We cannot let this go on. We can talk about standards, but we really need to put them in place.