Ms Carol Baxter:

In advance of the opening of a centre, we send information to all of the stakeholders, including the local authorities and ETBs. A HSE person is co-located with us and we meet the HSE weekly to examine existing issues in centres and the issues that will arise with the opening of future centres. The context is one of acute scarcity. When contractors wish to put forward a proposal to us, they have to do so through a particular template. We assess the template in the context of issues such as the experience of staff, the offering being provided and whether or not it complies with fire safety configuration. Unfortunately, we are not really in a position to veto particular locations. We need so much accommodation that we are trying to do something different. We are trying to work with, for instance, the HSE. We also have officials from the Tusla education support service, TESS, co-located with us to try to see if we can get school places and access to health services regardless of the location. If the accommodation is of good quality, it would be difficult for us to turn it down regardless of the location.