Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Increased allocations have been provided for training, development and incidental expenses. There are plausible reasons for this, but I am anxious to know that this is not a case of training for training's sake. Is there a metric for this? Do the people who undergo training deliver better services afterwards? I refer to shared services. The training allocation has increased from €262,000 to €627,000, while the training allocation for the Valuation Office has increased by 33%. I acknowledge that staff need training, but when they are training, they are not working. I am wondering whether it is necessary.