This country is crying out for accountability from regulatory bodies as we stumble from one scandal to another. Last week, I attended a public meeting in Oranmore, Galway, with Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice and Councillor Declan Kelly and met with parents whose children had been scammed by a local orthodontist and neglected by the Dental Council of Ireland. These parents paid large sums upfront in 2022 for their children's dental treatment only to find out they were being deceived. Some children were left with misaligned jaws, others with braces but no treatment plan, and some had to remove their braces themselves or with the help of others over the phone. One girl had a wire sticking into her mouth which her boyfriend eventually cut with clippers. These parents have faced significant challenges from the previous Government, the Dental Council and the former Minister for Health, with no solutions or support available. The Dental Council of Ireland is supposed to investigate the fitness of registered dentists to practise based on allegations of professional misconduct or unfitness due to physical or mental disability. According to the parents of these children, however, the Dental Council has done absolutely nothing to help them. These parents and children have been left over €2 million out of pocket, and children have been left with denture neglect at a very delicate age in their lives.

As regards another area of non-accountability, I recently raised twice in the Dáil with the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions the scam that is going on with certain financial advisers. On foot of that, I attended a meeting with the Central Bank and some of the people affected who have had their lives destroyed because of these financial advisers. I was informed at that meeting with the Central Bank that yes, the Central Bank regulates financial advisers but these financial advisers can sell unregulated products. The website of the Central Bank states that, as the regulator of financial service providers and markets in Ireland, the bank has to ensure that the best interests of consumers are protected. Where is the protection for those whom I know of who have lost over €200 million by the Central Bank?

The third area of non-compliance relates to the recent "RTÉ Investigates" documentary titled "Inside Ireland's Nursing Homes", which has uncovered serious concerns about the standards of care in several residential facilities run by Emeis Ireland, the country's largest provider of private nursing homes. The documentary, which aired on 4 June 2025, revealed issues such as staff shortages, unsafe care practices and undignified treatment of residents. The investigation involved undercover researchers who documented multiple instances of neglect and poor care, including residents being left unsupervised, improper manual handling and inadequate responses to residents' needs. Nursing homes in Ireland are regulated primarily by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA. HIQA is responsible for inspecting and registering residential care services for older people, including both public and private nursing homes. It ensures that these facilities meet the required standards of care and safety. Where was HIQA? We are forever in the Dáil seeking facts after the events, with well-paid regulatory bodies showing absolutely no accountability. How does the Tánaiste suggest we hold these bodies accountable going forward?

There was quite a lot in that, so let me endeavour to get through it.

To start where the Deputy finished as regards the issue of accountability and the safety and well-being of people in our nursing homes, I reiterate that it is the intention of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, along with the Minister of State, Kieran O'Donnell, to bring forward adult safeguarding policy proposals within the next month or so and to seek permission from the Government to draft the general scheme of safeguarding legislation. This is badly needed, it will make a big difference and I know it is something on which many experts and others who contributed to the RTÉ programme commented, including the acute need for it. It is a priority for the Government and we will make progress on that. The Minister will also meet with HIQA herself in the next week and there will be an opportunity, I am sure, for a full and frank exchange of views on this. The establishment of HIQA was an important step. There are good people at work in HIQA, and HIQA does a good job, but no organisation is beyond reproach or beyond questioning as to what happened in specific cases. There are legitimate questions that the Government will want to ask and explore with HIQA.

As regards the issue of dental legislation and the likes, I will need to be careful in one matter because I believe the case referred to in the article is perhaps before the courts and subject to in camera proceedings. That does not prohibit me from answering the broader point, which relates to the practice of dentistry and the reforms on which the Minister for Health intends to lead. My understanding is that dentistry is currently underpinned by a range of legislation, the Dentists Act 1985 being just one piece. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is committed to reviewing and updating that Act, and the continued protection of the public and high oral healthcare standards will be a priority in that regard. In the meantime, I am very pleased to say that the Minister signed a commencement order relating to certain provisions of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act on 30 April 2025. I think they came into effect on 6 May of this year. That requires dentists to make statutory declarations as regards any disciplinary proceedings or any judicial proceedings in the State or in another jurisdiction which may directly or indirectly result in the dentist being prohibited or restricted from providing one or more kind of health or social care. It has also broadened the grounds for inquiry to include matters which might be declared by a dentist or where a dentist fails to comply with the declarations requirement. This important provision is intended to ensure that the Dental Council becomes aware much earlier. Reform of the Dentists Act is planned for and those new regulations are in place.

Finally, on the issue of regulation of financial advisers, I am pleased that the Central Bank of Ireland met with the Deputy and his constituents, as he says, I think in May of this year to discuss issues he has raised in this House and to advise on the roll-out. I think he and his constituents found that meeting to be helpful. We are very happy to engage with him constructively on any lacunae or areas where he believes there is a need for improvement from a regulatory or legislative perspective.

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. He speaks about dental regulation, the Dentists Act and developments in 2024 or 2025. These people were hit hard in 2022. They have lost €2 million. How can any of them have confidence when we see the regulatory bodies fail the very people they are paid to protect? What does the Tánaiste say to the parents and children in their hundreds who are scammed out of their hard-earned money in Oranmore, Galway, to the tune of over €2 million, leaving these children in a shocking condition to the point, as I said earlier, of a young woman's boyfriend cutting the wire out of her mouth himself with some type of clippers? Since 2022, in spite of meetings with Ministers and others, the Dental Council has washed its hands and has walked away without a care in the world for the damage, both mental and physical, done to these children. Will the Tánaiste step in here and meet with the Dental Council to hold it accountable, hold it to do what it is supposed to do for these people so something like this can never happen again and compensate these innocent people who have been scammed out of their hard-earned money?

I am very conscious of not wanting to say anything that cuts across any legal process or court process. I know the Deputy is as well. I will therefore refrain from going any further on that issue other than to reiterate that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who is here with us, is committed, as is the programme for Government, to reviewing the dental legislation more broadly for the reasons I have outlined. A number of regulations have been commenced recently, since the Minister took office, that became effective in May and that I think are positive developments in modernising the regulatory structures that underpin the work of our dentists.

On the issue of the Central Bank and financial advisers - I ran out of time a little the last time - we are eager to continue to engage on this. When it comes to the protection of retail investors, the Department of Finance and the Central Bank work in tandem. The Central Bank regulates firms that operate in Ireland, including those that provide investment advice and sell investment products. I would also flag the role of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. If, however, there are issues here, because we should always strive to do better, we are very happy to engage further on this.