Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I am not sure if Deputy Tóibín is still there but we are talking about Border communities and dispersed rural regions. If we go down the route of quantifying numbers and all of that, we would do those communities a disservice. People in those communities have had to travel to Belfast, Dublin or wherever for services in the past. If people are judged on numbers, they will do what they do. I want to make that point and I thank the witnesses for the work they do to deliver services in my community. It is vital that they focus on the areas of work and what they are able to do rather than necessarily the numbers of people being helped.