Ms Lynn Coffey:

There is not much more I can say that Mr. King has not already covered. On the question regarding seeking our own legal advice, as I stated, it is very hard for us to see what the Minister is citing as legal advice when she will not share it with us. I thank Deputy Donnelly for noting that there is precedent for the sharing of advice in the other case he mentioned.

We were asked whether this procurement issue had arisen in other countries. In Belgium, ways to deliver social service contracts have been developed that are acceptable to EU legislators. This relates to cleaning services and so on as well. Social services in these areas have been allowed to continue delivering services. There have been situations in other countries within the EU in which the EU procurement legislation has allowed people living in those countries to benefit.

I will go back to what Mr. King said about the social benefit. Did we impress this point on the officials at the meeting on 17 September? We most certainly did. We informed the Department of the relationships that have been built within these communities over a 25-year period and which took a long time to establish.

They are established. They are walk-in centres for people. As Deputy Donnelly said, it is about being able to lift the phone and do follow-ups. It is about being able to have a conversation and ask people how they are getting on, how they found an interview, how the service can help them to go further and if there is anything else they need, including further training. The private model will not provide this because these are not the results the private model is looking for. The only result the private model is looking for is profit. In the social model we are looking after people.