John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response but unfortunately it does not address the matter sufficiently. This is a staffing issue, yes. For some bizarre reason, the HSE is responsible for the staffing in these offices even though civil registration is actually under the remit of the Department of Social Protection. In the first line of her response, the Minister of State mentioned registration in a timely manner. That cannot happen in the Waterford offices at present.

First, it cannot happen it in Dungarvan and west Waterford because the office is closed temporarily and second, it cannot happen in Waterford city because it has been restricted to three days a week. What has to happen here, and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out, is that some staff need to be redeployed into the Waterford area to manage it while the recruitment process is ongoing. That is the responsibility of human resources and it should not take me raising it on the floor of the Seanad for that to happen. I ask the Minister of State who, given her role, has a leg in a couple of Departments, to take this up for me with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly.