Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their presentations here this afternoon on this very important work the committee is doing.

I was very interested in Dr. Tierney's reference to young men and education. Does she have any suggestions on the types of programmes that might be attractive to them? I have come across some young men myself who were interested in farriery, yet there is not anywhere for them to train in the South. I understand they would have to go to the North or the UK. Could we do something to address that? Is Dr. Tierney aware of any research on suitable areas of education for young men? There is no point in channelling them into areas they do not want to be in, regardless of their background.

I have a question for Dr. Keogh on nursing liaison, which the HSE has addressed to some extent. We had a discussion on the issue last week. It seems to be a very good model whereby people are trained to develop specific expertise in helping people within the Traveller community who are having difficulties. Could Dr. Keogh outline a little more about the way the nurse works in Carlow because it would be well worth doing it, if that is something that could be replicated across the country?

The HSE statement referred to the fact that there is a gap in the CSO's data in terms of information gathering. Has the CSO been approached in order to address that and, if so, what is the progress in that regard? That would be something important for us to identify in making our report. It would be helpful if the HSE witnesses could tell us if there has been any engagement in that regard.