Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

For the record, I will mention a social media message that was posted last night by Senator Keogan. It refers to certain office holders in the State, including the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. On my behalf and that of Senators McDowell, Boyhan, Craughwell and Norris, I wish to publicly repudiate the tone, content and message contained in that post. It will raise feelings of alienation among many people we have welcomed to this country. That includes everyone from bus drivers to shopkeepers, to the highest office holders in the land. If a similar post was made by a parliamentarian in any other jurisdiction about an Irish person, we would find it reprehensible. The phrase "no Irish need apply" is a phrase that is held in infamy. Similarly, the phrase, "no non-Irish need apply" is equally reprehensible.

The business I want to raise this morning relates to the disability services in Cluain Fhionnain, Killarney, County Kerry. I remind the House of the recent Kerry CAMHS scandal. It was an appalling vista where hundreds of vulnerable children and adults were exposed to inappropriate prescription regimes with horrific outcomes for children and their families. We will all remember the life-limiting and life-altering consequences. The outcomes were so serious that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, ordered an audit of all Kerry CAMHS. In addition, the divisional protection unit of An Garda Síochána invited those affected and their family members to make statements as part of a potential Garda investigation into criminal wrongdoing. This morning I draw the attention of the House to the HIQA inspection report of Cluain Fhionnain disability services dated 19 December 2017 which stated, "Inspectors were informed that for one resident a review of their medication resulted in the discontinuation of a medication that was used to block their hormones". To laypersons and parents of children and adults with disabilities, like me, this practice is sometimes referred to as "chemical castration" or "chemical incarceration". It is to inappropriately sedate or pacify persons with disabilities in residential settings. I am calling for a Garda investigation into the prescribing regime and regime of care in Cluain Fhionnain, Killarney, for the same reasons that prompted ministerial and Garda interest in the Kerry CAMHS situation. In particular, I want HIQA to hand over two unpublished or suppressed reports into Cluain Fhionnain, dated 29 and 30 August 2017, along with any evidence used to support them. I am calling on An Garda Síochána to interview all inspectors who produced these three reports and the regulatory support officers and to consider any possible reporting obligation of HIQA management under the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. I am calling on An Garda Síochána to investigate any possible concealment or destruction of evidence of any wrongdoing. I am deeply concerned about the status, welfare and safety of disabled citizens for the same reasons highlighted in the Kerry CAMHS scandal with which many of the locations and facilities share the same campus. We do not want a repeat of the Áras Attracta scandal. We need an urgent Garda investigation into the matters I have raised today. These are our most vulnerable citizens.