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

-----to make it more difficult for some of us to understand exactly what is at play here. The bottom line regarding amendment No. 63 is that the Minister is proposing to delete subsection (2), lines 36 to 39 which state: "The functions vested in the Family Support Agency by or under section 4, with the exception of the paragraphs (i) or (j) of subsection (1) of that section, of the Family Support Agency Act 2001 shall, on the establishment day, stand transferred to the Agency."

What has the Minister replaced that with? Nothing in the other amendments in this grouping replaces the intent. Let us be clear: this is the dissolution of this section. It is about the dissolution of the Family Support Agency and the National Education Welfare Board and the transfer of the functions of both to the new child and family agency. From what I read, this provision provides for the deletion of the Family Support Agency, the entity within the HSE. It states that the functions vested in the Family Support Agency, as we have known it, shall, on the establishment day of the new child and family agency, not be transferred. If the Minister is going to delete it, it needs further explanation. I am not at all clear and I am concerned because the Family Support Agency is the critical element within the HSE. It is one of the three component parts of the new agency, as we have understood heretofore, to be established. I do not see in this grouping or in any other reference that this is being provided for. I would like the Minister to clarify the situation.