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

That is good to know.

It seems very generous to apply that lookback for whatever reason. I can fully understand they could be carrying out all the accreditation they like and then when they apply to the INAB for that accreditation only then does that process start and they get it from whenever they get it. However, in this instance effectively what Dr. Duff is saying is, "They did not have accreditation but we're going to grant it with some degree of retrospection." It seems very generous. Obviously, Dr. Duff is saying the INAB was not specifically asked to do that. In the absence of anyone asking it or pressuring it to do it, it seems exceptionally generous that the organisation would do that.

Some years ago, a company for which I worked was applying for ISO 9000 accreditation. There was considerable work involving late nights and early mornings to get ourselves shipshape and all the rest of it. Had I known at that stage that a facility could have been extended allowing us to continue doing what we were doing and have it applied to us, it would have saved us many 60 and 70-hour weeks. I am not necessarily asking Dr. Duff to comment on this, but it seems an exceptionally generous thing that the organisation has extended in very public circumstances.