Ms Mary Higgins:

I will start with the issue of dissatisfaction, which I did address in the document we sent. We can address only the issues that are brought to our attention. We do receive complaints in our office. I have recorded how many we received. We get feedback also. What we do when we receive complaints is examine them. We work out what has happened and what we have done. If we have done something wrong, we say we are very sorry and we put it right. If, however, the complaints are not being made to us, there is nothing I can do. Just as I said to the members of the Committee of Public Accounts, members of this committee should bring complaints about us to us if they receive any. Then we can consider them and do something about them. If we are contacted by Members of the Oireachtas, we always respond. We will always offer to sit down and talk and explain how we work, or do whatever else is required. I ask members now to come to us if they are receiving complaints and allow us to respond to them. If they do not come to us, we have no way of knowing what exactly is going on.

We are not happy to be sitting here with one person after another saying this is a rubbish service when that is not our experience. It is not what we are trying to do. We very deliberately set out to design a service that would not retraumatise people. We thought very carefully about it. We have staff who have been very carefully selected for their values, attitudes, skills and experiences. They are well managed. We do not get everything right all the time. We make mistakes, we get things wrong, and we have bad days the same as everybody else. When that happens, we say we are sorry. When somebody says it would be better if we did such a thing, we examine the proposal and say it would or that it is not possible, for whatever reason. We are not a closed organisation; we are an open organisation. It is very difficult for us to hear all this negativity and not be able to understand to whom and to what specific incidents it refers. Not knowing makes us powerless to do anything about it. If people receive negative feedback about us, they should please come to us, and do so at the time they get it. Time is very important in resolving those issues.

A number of the issues that have been raised have been addressed. I am not saying anything bad about that. The rent issue is very considerable. I will start and Mr. O'Callaghan can finish on it. I will outline the history of our position in regard to premises and rent so everybody can be very clear. It might be a little detailed and I hope it will not be too boring for members but it is important to spell it out clearly. I started in April 2013. I was placed in an office, where we still are, and I was told by the Department that it was temporary and that we would need to find alternative accommodation. There was work done, through the OPW, to source alternative accommodation for us.