Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will find that the commitments given by the Citizens Information Board, certainly in relation to the staff, only apply for the lifetime of the implementation process. They will cease when the implementation has actually been carried through. Why has the Department not responded to the committee which has submitted the report to the Minister? To the best of my knowledge, we have received a response from the board, but we have not had one from the Department. I hope I am not breaking any rule in putting the following to the Minister. All parties represented on the committee, including the Minister's, have unanimously recommended that this process be stopped in its tracks. That is also the view of volunteers, front-line staff and users of the service. Is the Minister confirming to the House that the restructuring process is going ahead as planned, regardless of what the report states and regardless of the unanimous opposition of all parties in the House, including, as I understand it, one or two not represented on the committee but which voted in favour of the Private Members' motion? Does all of this activity and opposition mean nothing in reality?

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