Dr. Maura Pidgeon:

Deputy Ó Caoláin asked about interim staffing arrangements at the board. Essentially, we have a number of full-time staff working on a short-term basis - that is, for a period of six months. My comments regarding the workplace environment causing some uncertainty and unsettled feelings were in the context of the unexpected shortfall in revenue to the organisation, which meant I was not in a position to guarantee staff on short-term contracts security of tenure. Naturally, some of those staff left for secure and permanent employment elsewhere. Having said that, of the 11 staff who left, three were permanent staff who left for promotional grades and opportunities in other organisations. There was an element of natural attrition, in other words, and my comments about uncertainty and an unsettled feeling related to staff on short-term contracts.

The NMBI is a completely self-funding organisation and relies on members' annual retention fee and other registration fees for its functioning. We have had no other sources of revenue, except for two years ago when the Department contributed €1.6 million towards the implementation of the new legislation. We were then in position in which the revenue stream to the organisation was unexpectedly reduced.