Mr. Jim Breslin:

There are two projects, one of which is financial due diligence. Two Departments have agreed independent support for the process so there is external due diligence on the resource of the transfer. We have made very good progress and we have refined the budget as needed. I am confident that the budget that will be put before the House will be the proper one to go with the services that are moving. That is an important component and has been done on an objective basis.

Psychology is another project. A specific working group was agreed between the two Departments and is working to see what impact the movement of psychology services to the agency would be for clients, children and family services and for HSE clients. It is important to acknowledge the major role that psychologists have played in children and family services in respect of children who are in welfare situations, in child protection situations and are potentially in care. The funding of psychology services and the strengthening of the service to provide it to the most vulnerable children has been an important addition over the past decade or more.

It is also important to reflect on the mandate of the new agency which will be different from the HSE's children and family services. It will be a broader mandate that will be present in an early intervention capacity. The delineation of psychology between the agency and the HSE must take account of the new mandate of the agency and not just the current child welfare and protection services. Whatever the outcome or employment solutions to that issue, it would be our commitment that psychology would remain as a presence in primary care. That is where we want the agency to be present. We do not want a crisis-driven agency to which a child is referred after everything else has failed. We want its employees to be active and working in partnership with other health and education professionals in communities.

The working group has not just been trying to devise how to move something about and the numbers involved, but also the management and clinical governance arrangements around moves.