Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To return to the premise I outlined at the start and the reason for the amendment, a small entity is being established. We could name several agencies, and they would all fit on a single floor somewhere. This is a huge step and one I welcome very much. If one examines the numbers of people employed in any number of large entities within State agencies, one can see there is a need for inter-agency and intra-agency co-operation. I do not suggest the component parts will continue to struggle, fall apart, fail to co-operate and become a single entity. We want them to leave all those previous demarcation lines outside the new agency and be integral. It is in the integral interest that I believe it is an addition to and an affirmation of our expectations.

Again: "The Agency shall promote...". This is within the agency. It is not only its external relationships and engagements but, within itself, co-operation to ensure services for children are co-ordinated. This will apply across the country and provide an integrated response to the needs of children and their families. It is only an effort to see if there is the possibility of improvement. I believe there is. Inter-agency co-operation stands on its own merit but intra-agency is another dimension. That is not to suggest, as the Minister may have picked up, that I am at all concerned that we will have competing entities, part of the new, amorphous mass. However we need internally to promote co-operation across all the different newly-defined roles and functions of the new agency, and promote the very best we expect from that entity.