Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I welcome that the Minister of State will reconsider the issue but she should bear in mind what I said. Nobody will replicate the work being done by these people across the board and nobody has the required level of local knowledge. That would be accepted by all the agencies I mentioned who work with these people.

It will be like a house of cards and if those individuals are pulled from the communities, there will be a knock-on effect on a significant number of projects. It is not just what these projects are being funded for; in many cases these people do extra work, and they participate on a voluntary basis on boards, for example. It is a package. I know the work involves many Departments but somebody must take up the slack. If the Minister of State's Department cannot do so, the Department of Justice and Equality may be able to do so. If we save two or three children from going into the justice system, that should save a fortune for the State. That is a potential outcome.

See this speech in context