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

I will comment before the Minister responds. The Minister has already indicated that because HIQA is directly responsible to the Minister for Health and the HSE, she would not be able to incorporate it in the responsibility vis-à-vis children's services, in whatever manifestation that may be. Would the Minister for Health not also have a difficulty in the crossing over of certain areas of service provision under the agency after it is established? Is this not one of the needs we must overcome when it comes to cross-departmental operation? I could anticipate the Minister for Health saying the same as what the Minister before us has relayed to Deputy Troy. It seems this is a problem, particularly as all the areas of concern regarding children are not confined to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs; they take in several Departments and we need some mechanism for joined-up thinking so Departments can address shared concerns. This is just one example.