Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will forgive me but I must have missed something in the dispatches. It is news to me that Jillian van Turnhout was appointed by the Minister. I must have missed the press release on that one. As a former Senator, I think we all have confidence in the fact that she has been appointed to that role. Does the Minister envisage that the Elliot report will be published? When will the Minister restore funding? It is vital, notwithstanding the process that is under way, to restore funding and have a direction of travel to restore that funding. It is an entity that represents thousands of volunteers.

I am still unclear in my own mind - that is why I cannot wait to have an interrogation of Scouting Ireland's internal procedures - as to how the funding flows down into individual troops. There seems to be a disparity between what happens at the head of the organisation and at the bottom of the organisation. There seems to be a gap between ordinary members and those within the upper echelons of the organisation. I welcome the appointment of Jillian van Turnhout but merely want to ask the Minister that question.

See this speech in context