Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I do not disagree with anything Mr. Ryan said regarding the increase in public consciousness. When I say that this matter is too small to cross three Departments, that is not to say it is not important. In fact, I would argue that it is too important to cross three different Departments. That is why I believe fundamentally that there is a problem even with accountability. I welcome the fact that representatives from the Department of Rural and Community Development are present. Technically, they are under no obligation to appear before the committee because it is not their sectoral committee. Yet, it is an area of work in which this committee has been doing much research and we have held a number of hearings. We recognise that we have to get this right because we have been getting it wrong for too long. Many of the issues we have been addressing have not been resolved and are ongoing. Part of the problem must be that there is not a singular focus within a particular Department with a line Minister who is directly responsible for all these matters.

The working group needs to move in that direction. I accept, however, that at the end of the day it will be a political decision. That needs to happen. Are there representatives of local authorities on the working group? If so, are they CEO level staff or elected representatives? How does that representation manifest?