Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Chairman. The staff of Console are being given the brush-off and are out of pocket. As they set out in the letter, they, like everyone else, have bills to pay and families to care for. They are in this position not least because of the failure of the Health Service Executive to monitor and control the section 39 agency in question, namely, Console. It is doubly unacceptable, therefore, that the HSE has taken the attitude described. What we need to figure out is how to get recourse for the staff in question because they cannot be left in a position where they are out of pocket for a couple of months. I do not know how the committee can achieve this if the HSE's argument is that Console is a section 39 agency and, as such, has nothing to do with it or the Department.