Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

I thank the Deputy. The point we are making is that there was an announcement that a survey had been conducted by the HSE but nobody was aware of the survey. That is why we sought the information under the freedom of information process. What we found in the correspondence is that it looks more like a table-top exercise involving CSO and Revenue figures as opposed to a survey. Perhaps there was a survey but, if so, it certainly was not in consultation with the trade unions. From the Revenue and CSO figures, it seems they made certain assumptions that there were in the region of 8,000 people who would be in the category of healthcare worker with family responsibilities. That is where the figure of 8,000 came from, from what we can see in the data we received under freedom of information.