Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to cause controversy. This was a point in a submission last week and we all took it as a given. It may sound self-evident. If an alternative point of view is brought forward to the committee, it is important for our benefit and for our report that it is fleshed out and we understand the two different points of view. I am not looking for a dispute or discord on that.

My next question is for Treoir. It relates to the discussion around shared parenting. I raised the lack of contact centres last week. At the previous meeting, I mentioned my knowledge of a service in my community that was limited to child protection referrals. It no longer takes referrals from the family courts where there is not a child protection issue due to a lack of resources. It is a beautiful, excellent facility. Weighing both considerations up in my mind - and my belief that it looks like an excellent facility - I have come across people who have stated that to try to engage with children in an environment such as that is unnatural and difficult. I am not talking about child protection issues because that is a discrete category. More generally, where a contact centre might be used, and a person believes that he or she is being observed and notes are being gathered, what is the view of the witnesses on it? Are they worth pursuing despite that they might not be the most natural way of engagement? Have our guests any other observations on the value of contact centres?