Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the departmental officials for being with us. I have a number of points I want to get through, the first of which is to do with consultation. We heard earlier from representatives of the unions for front-line healthcare workers that there were zero consultations with their own Department regarding what we now know was a failed childcare scheme proposal. I welcome the advisory committee that was set up in the past few weeks but it really should have been put in place at the very start of all this, not in the middle of May. The group has worked well and I want to know whether the Department is committed to keeping it in place and inviting relevant groups to participate as the process develops. For example, the union representatives should be brought in to discuss any childcare scheme for front-line workers. If the advisory group had been in place from the start, maybe we would have got a scheme that actually worked. Since it has been up and running, consultation has been a lot clearer and better, from what I can see, and it is key to many different issues. Can we get a commitment from the Department - I hope there will be a Department in the future to fulfil any such commitment - that the advisory group will stay?