John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is not my understanding of the reality. Disability organisations, including the Disability Federation which I know quite well, have been involved under the bonnet in the implementation programme. Ultimately, the HSE is the funder. Since 2013, it could have driven the questions the Department is asking. Again, I am hearing talk of insurance costs and procurement. I sat with representatives of the HSE in 2013, as did representatives from the other umbrella organisations and groups, to discuss utility costs such as oil, heating, insurance costs and so on. They are not new issues. Two of us have engaged, although how well we have done so might be a more useful question to ask. Perhaps the engagement has been episodic, but I do not accept that there has been none.