Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let it not be said that I never agree with Senator Craughwell because I totally agree with his suggestion. In fairness to Senator Murphy, this committee certainly wants to hear about the concerns of constituents and their local centres. There is no question about that. To the point that Deputy Higgins made earlier, we also must be cognisant of our work and duplication with other committees. The Chairman suggested that the clerk would seek information from other committees and I would not limit that to the health committee. From listening to colleagues, nobody seems to be certain which committee is involved. This group is obviously very active and I commend its members on their work to date. If they have corresponded with other committees and subcommittees of the Oireachtas, we need to find out. Perhaps they have been in touch with the Sub-Committee on Mental Health or another Oireachtas committee. We need to be sure whether a site visit is happening. Deputy Buckley says the visit relates to the physical building, and that is fair enough. It might not be about the services. I cannot imagine an Oireachtas committee attending a site and not discussing the services in tandem with discussions of a building. Why would a building be repaired if there are not to be services? They will have a discussion around everything. We need to have that report, as Deputy Higgins rightly said. I would also like for this committee to inquire of all other Oireachtas committees to see is this on the agenda for any other committee. When we establish that, Senator Murphy's point about the regional health forum is a very good suggestion. It is more targeted. The regional health manager would be at those meetings, along with the other professionals within the HSE. We might not actually get that audience at a meeting of ours but that is not to say we should not try. We must ensure there is no duplication happening in the Oireachtas. We have learned today that a site visit is happening, which I welcome. Following on from that, we can discuss it at the next meeting. That is why I agree with Senator Craughwell's suggestion.