Ms Rosemary Keogh:

The trip to the UK took place in 2018. I would like to detach it from the redeployment issue if I may because they are completely separate timelines and issues. In 2018, when the board of the Irish Wheelchair Association made the decision that we would invest in the further development of Cuisle, invest in sales and marketing for Cuisle and stay in the facility, further to being able to find the funding for the capital works, as part of our own investment in developing Cuisle, we spent €200 travelling to the UK to learn from another provider that is an expert in this field. We employed a sales and marketing resource who spent time with the staff in Cuisle, trained them in sales and marketing, approached other organisations and sought further bookings. As members will see, there was a small increase in our bookings in 2018 and 2019 as a result of that. There was also a small increase in Cuisle's income, independent of State funding, as a consequence.

In November 2019, when we were in the unfortunate position of having to announce redundancies, we wrote to all staff in Cuisle and asked them to return an expression of interest as to whether their preference was to be made redundant or take up an offer of redeployment. To date, only one member of staff has taken up the offer of redeployment. That person will be redeployed either in the new holiday model or within our personal assistance service. That has been negotiated with the individual in question.