Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the groups in attendance. All their presentations have described very well the scale of the issues and the challenges in ensuring we have a fit-for-purpose care service to meet the needs of our ageing population in a dignified way and that we afford workers in the sector a viable, fulfilling and properly rewarded career. We are very far from that at the moment. Much important time has been lost on this. There was an undertaking to introduce the statutory home care scheme but time is just ticking by on that. It seems incredible that we have not got to the point of setting up the group to consider all of the many issues involved in this — the cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. In response to a parliamentary question I submitted in December, the Minister of State said she hoped to set it up in early 2022 and that, in the meantime, she would be consulting for a month or so. Have all the groups made submissions to the consultation?