Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I would like to allay the concerns of staff and volunteers in my discussions with the chairman of the board and the CEO. I have been assured on a number of occasions that all the local services and local offices will be protected, as will the positions of staff. I do not subscribe to the view that there has to be an independent company with its own board in every local area in order to have volunteers. The Deputy will be very familiar with Special Olympics Ireland, for example. It has considerable numbers of volunteers in many local areas but it is a single corporate entity with one company and one corporate board for the country.

The next step in the consultation and implementation of what the board is planning is to establish what is being called a restructuring implementation group. That will carry out the cost-benefit analysis which we spoke about previously and will also set about implementing the new 16-board model.

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