Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To be honest, I would find that difficult. As I said, I am not acting as a go-between for the Owenacurra centre. I am a public representative and I take the same amount of punishment or credit as others. My feeling from working on this, talking to the service users and listening to the petitioners is that they have exhausted all avenues. That is why they need this opportunity to tell their stories, nail down what the social impact of this closure will be and try to cut across the bureaucracy. That might show that there is a bigger picture here. They are only asking for their voices to be heard, although I understand what other members are saying. This is only my view. We can vote on the issue because that is what democracy is about. This is urgent. The people who are personally affected by this are hurt and they have exhausted every other angle. If they had not done so, they would not have come to the Committee on Public Petitions.

Some of the witnesses' statements on the documents we got are of major concern. It is a matter of urgency. I feel that as a public representative it does not matter if it happens in Midleton, Kilkenny or whatever other county. They should be all afforded the same respect and the same opportunity. It is a matter of urgency. We are lucky enough to be in a position to afford those people the opportunity to express their issues, it is only fair that we should listen to them. That is my argument on the point.