Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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It is not just in Dublin; it is everywhere. I am from Cork and we have the same challenges there that exist here. It is the same thing. Looking at the system, when the child, person or young person presents in, say, a judicial scenario, there is a guardian ad litem. I do not see why there could not be some sort of a similar model where the child has an advocate when interfacing. I do not see why people, such as the witnesses, could not fit into that role and have that properly resourced. That is perhaps something we as a committee should consider.

Regarding the terms and conditions of employment, recruitment and retention, and I think Mr. Roe spoke specifically on that, in terms of the witnesses’ employer-employee representatives and the terms and conditions of employment, where is the conversation happening in relation to a rate for the job, given that it is antisocial hours, all hours and probably Mondays to Sundays, depending on who is calling and when? Where is the recognition of what I would call the piecemeal? Every job has a value. Our job has a value. Civil Service jobs have value. Civil and public servants were referenced specifically, for instance. There is a rate for the job. It seems that the witnesses’ sector operates on a very ad hocbasis without any formalised, structured process of engagement with the architecture of the State, that is, the Labour Relations Commission and so on. How are the witnesses organised? If they are not organised, how do they become organised?