Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I have huge admiration for the work done by MABS. I am from County Clare and regularly engage with MABS.

Deputy Kenny has asked legitimate questions, particularly in terms of the line that there will be no change to the location of any service during the lifetime of the restructuring programme. We need clarity on that. So much in terms of managing this is volunteer centred that if the volunteer element cannot be brought with us, how will the service be managed after that? What was the level of consultation in that context? It was said there was extensive consultation. What did that entail?

I would like to hear more about trying to arrive at a more streamlined governance model. What are the advantages of that model? The witnesses speak of trying reduce administration, which is a good thing in many ways. If they cannot bring the volunteers with them, how will they manage the service? My fear is that if they cannot do that, it will spill on to the service users, so to speak, and will have an impact on them. I would like if the witnesses could convince me in terms of what they are trying to achieve. How will the service user benefit from the changes the witnesses are trying to implement?