Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is different, Chairman. The committee had told the Department that we expected the representatives to be here but the opening statements did not indicate that there would be such a representative here. All the information we had to go on was that we had made the request, not that the request had been acceded to. While I have Ms Rothwell here, I have two very quick questions, if that is okay.

Will Ms Rothwell advise as to when she first became aware of the issue around bodies decomposing and all the issues that have been referred to in the media? Was she aware of these issues in March when she met the consultant pathologists? The contents of the October letter, which is now in the public domain, brings into sharp, unfortunate and regrettable focus the awful and horrific treatment of people who have died, and of their families. When Ms Rothwell had the meeting with the consultant pathologists in March was, she aware of that? The letter referred to the pathologists having raised the issues over a long period. Separately, there is also a contention that senior management was not aware of it. This lacks credibility but maybe this is me just being a bit cynical. Will Ms Rothwell let the committee know if she was aware in March?