Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I will come back on the point about briefing. Mr. McCarthy obviously sees it very differently from the way we see it. I got a briefing in four instances. In one case I got a phone call to say the contract was signed and people were moving in. In another case, they had moved in already and I was being advised in retrospect. In a third case, information had emerged and a public meeting had been called. We got a briefing in advance of the public meeting, but we knew nothing about it other than that.

Mr. McCarthy referred to information getting out. Information gets out when people go in and start work on a building. Typically, what happens is that when the people on the building site go into a shop, they are asked what is happening. Mr. McCarthy says it is beyond his control.

In the fourth case there was an advertisement for a job for people to work in a centre and I got a press inquiry. I made an inquiry then to the Department to find out if it was true and what it was. That has been my experience. I suspect it is not terribly different from the experience of others. As the Chairman, Deputy Stanley said, he read some of it in the newspaper. I would not say I am untypical. Let me just put that on the record. That is how it is from our perspective. We operate on trust. People put us in here. They give us something very important: they give us their vote and they expect us to treat it with respect. I feel there is a degree of disrespect in not being able to impart accurate information to people. That can be valuable, as we know our local community, the people in it and how we can be helpful, among other issues. The very least people expect from us is that we will be honest with them. I find it very hard to be honest with them when I am not getting the information to be honest with them until after the event. That must change.

I also want to ask about the vetting of providers. During Covid, we saw what happened with ventilators. When there is an emergency situation the vast majority of people will be fine but then there will be a cohort of people who will not be. What vetting is done on providers? Is it tax compliance, company law and a range of other issues? It is good to hear that individuals from the HSE or Department of Education are part of the team, but what other disciplines are involved to make sure that it is not just value for money but that there will not be problems in the future?