Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is important to clarify that the clerk to this committee wrote to the Secretary General of the Department of Health at the outset, in accordance with our terms of reference, offering the services of the committee to scrutinise draft regulations before they are signed by the Minister. I wrote to the previous Minister for Health in a similar way offering the services of the committee, which is in accordance with the terms of reference. To date, neither the Department of Health nor the previous or current Ministers with responsibility for health have decided to avail of that offer.