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

Ms Kavanagh read out a considerable number of news headlines when making her opening statement. Sometimes journalists get a bit of a bashing. One of the witnesses said it is about getting to the truth and having accountability and transparency. I have said many times at committee meetings that what I find most difficult to do in this country is help people to tell the truth, because that is when you get punished. One of the whistleblowers' cases has been mentioned. Even in the short time I have been here, I have worked on a protected disclosure. Fortunately enough, with the agreement of the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and others, we reversed the burden of proof requirement to try to make things a little easier and more transparent.

This has really opened my eyes, and that is why I believe this committee is so important. My head is going at 100 mph saying that we have so much more to do now. I thank all our guests for attending. It has been extremely beneficial because sometimes when we come in here, we do not know what way it will go. The committee is a wonderful platform for people to state that there is something wrong and that it needs to be fixed. This is a public forum and it is where our guests should be. On behalf of the committee, I thank them very much for coming here today. If they want to make any closing remarks, they may do so.