I wish to raise the issue of the deprivation of liberty and institutional abuse and the particular responsibility we in Ireland, as a result of our history, have to ensure that the State takes an active role in monitoring, overseeing and intervening to safeguard the vulnerable in institutions from being abused. A key mechanism for addressing the potential for abuse in institutions is to ensure independent and regular inspections. Inspections shine a light on otherwise closed and hidden spaces, often the common thread of institutional abuse. Providing for such inspections is the central idea behind the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, OPCAT, which Ireland has yet to ratify.

Even after the litany of revelations of institutional and historical abuse in Ireland, our inspection regime is seriously flawed. There is no inspection body for those detained in Garda stations following arrest. The inspectorate of prisons has published only one prison inspection report since 2014. There is no oversight body for direct provision centres or nursing homes, and many existing inspection mechanisms are not clearly entitled under law to conduct unannounced and regular inspections.

Under OPCAT, Ireland would be required to establish a national preventive mechanism, which is a co-ordinated inspection regime that is independent of government and has real powers. Independent inspectors could go to any place of detention unannounced and inspect any part of the residence. These would not just be in settings that we traditionally think of as detention centres, such as prisons or Garda stations, because many people are deprived of their liberty in health and social care settings, including immigration detention facilities, psychiatric hospitals, care homes, secure accommodation for children and nursing homes. People with disabilities, older people or those in addiction can be subjected to coercive practices in care, such as the withholding or overuse of vital medicine. Thorough and sustained monitoring and oversight of all these places is needed in order to protect people from inhuman or degrading treatment. Ireland signed OPCAT in 2007 but has not ratified it, which means that the Government does not have to comply with its requirements. What are the Government's plans in this area and when we can expect Ireland to ratify OPCAT? As we know from the experience with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, this can happen separately to the legislative process.

I will also oppose the change to Standing Orders if it comes to a vote. The change seems to suit the current needs of Government Senators. The quorum is one of the few parliamentary tactics we have in opposition. Regardless of whether I agree that it has been abused, I definitely do not want to shoot myself in the foot, particularly if I need to abuse at some point in the future in the context of legislation in which I have a vested interest. I will oppose the change to Standing Orders if it comes to it.

I refer to the response of the Taoiseach in the Dáil yesterday regarding Spinraza. Parents and sufferers alike received bad news after months and months of raising this issue and waiting for a response. The HSE, yet again, has not been held accountable for how it negotiates an acceptable price with Biogen, the maker of Spinraza. Practically every other European country has managed to negotiate a deal with Biogen but, in 18 months, the HSE has failed patients here. That is not acceptable. The rare diseases technology review committee has recommended Spinraza to be supplied on a managed access programme so that the cost can be managed but the corporate pharmaceutical unit, CPU, seems unable to act to communicate what an acceptable deal would look like. The lack of any communication with the patient group over the past 18 months by the HSE is highly disrespectful and unacceptable. The CPU has to be held accountable for this. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, in whom Fianna Fáil will show confidence later today, has not shown any interest in doing this or in offering to meet the families. I appeal to him to meet these families in order to discuss the matter. We are talking about a small number of children.

Another issue that affects children is the audiology test that deviated from best practice. I accompanied parents of affected children to meetings with the HSE on one occasion and asked the official present if there were any more cases apart from the 49 identified. I was told "No". Time and again, we were all told "No" and that there were 49 cases. There are Senators sitting in this Chamber who know that this is true. From my experience of other scandals, the initial figure given of agencies and companies rarely gives the full picture. We now know that 60 more cases have been identified. Many of these children are in the late stages of development and have gone misdiagnosed for years. In many cases, there may be permanent or reversible damage. Some of these children had already underlying disabilities. I ask that the fault, wherever it lies in the review process, be addressed so that absolutely everybody who is affected can be contacted and adequate treatment and support be provided. We need an inquiry into this. It is obvious that the governance was not in place here and that, again, nobody was accountable. That is why a review is needed. Some of the 49 cases do not even have their medical card applications approved. The buck must stop somewhere. This matter is evidence of another failing on the part of the Minister for Health.

Finally, regarding the news that only 11,334 persons out of the 206,000 who have been taken on by JobPath remained in employment for over 12 months, the two companies, Seetec and Turas Nua, received full payment for every one of these referrals. In fact, they received double payments. The Dáil has passed the motion calling for the end of mandatory referrals. I want the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to come before the House to discuss this matter because this is where it originated. In December 2016, I and my colleague, former Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, raised the scandal of JobPath. Incidentally, the Taoiseach was Minister for Social Protection when that contract was negotiated. I want to see the contract because I want to see where the €149 million has gone.

I thank Senator Ruane for raising an important issue regarding the human rights of some vulnerable people in institutions here and the lack of enforcement of international law as it applies to the vulnerable. I want to raise an issue of concern in respect of how a vulnerable group of people who work in Ireland are treated by the system. In doing so, I wish highlight an article, written by Ms Felicity Lawrence and the Irish journalist, Ms Ella McSweeney, in today's edition of The Guardian, that draws attention to the human rights abuses of migrant fishermen who are working in the Irish system. Troublingly, this condemnation comes not simply from a politician, a trade unionist or somebody from an NGO, but from four high-ranking UN rapporteurs on human rights, trafficking, modern slavery and racial discrimination. I read the letter because I received it last week from the International Transport Workers Federation, the union operating to protect the interests of seafarers. It is a damning indictment of how we treat migrant fishermen in this country. The rapporteurs believe that the atypical permanent scheme in place at present leaves migrant workers open to exploitation, trafficking and human slavery.

That is a shocking indictment of this country. One of the problems is that the visa is tied to just one employer. One can imagine a vulnerable migrant worker putting a hand up to say they have not been paid, have been worked to sickness and are not being protected. If they put their hand up, they lose that right to work here because they have overstepped the mark with their employer when they are tied to that one employer. We can imagine all of the problems associated with that.

I have personally dealt with a considerable number of migrant fishers from north Africa who, in my opinion and in the opinion of the UN rapporteurs, are being exploited, are in a very vulnerable position and are not being protected by the atypical permits scheme in place here at the moment. I am on public record as challenging that scheme in this House, in the media and elsewhere. The scheme needs to be scrapped and the Ministers for Justice and Equality, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Business, Enterprise and Innovation need to work with the International Transport Workers' Federation to ensure we have a pipeline of workers from outside of Europe and the EEA states who are willing and able to work in the fishing industry in this country, but that they are protected and there is a scheme in place that respects their human rights, vindicates their rights and supports them. At the moment, this scheme is simply not working and it is open to abuse and to exploitation. I want to hear from the Minister for Justice and Equality what he is going to do about this.