Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Does Ms O'Brien recognise that one of the most intractable fees - which is how she described it - is in respect of programme validation? She said that she is seeking to incentivise providers to make applications for validation in one submission. She also said that she is encouraging providers to think strategically about programme requirements over a longer period of time. Mr. Vaughan outlined one of the obstacles - the lack of multi-annual funding - which makes that particular goal more difficult.

The other area to which both Ms O'Brien and Ms Doyle referred in their presentations was the possibility of individual providers networking. While that sounds plausible, I am sure there are issues with it. I was wondering if Mr. Vaughan could give us some information on the difficulties caused for individual providers due to the introduction of validation fees, whereby they essentially are forced into a situation where they are now networking. I do not know what the particular problems would be for individual providers, but perhaps Mr. Vaughan could outline some of them. Can Ms O'Brien clarify whether we are talking about individual providers coming together in networks and consortia solely for validation programmes, while still maintaining their own identity as providers, or are we looking at individual providers merging into a network and being seen as one single entity?