Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending the committee. One of the important issues raised at the previous meeting was the issue of recruitment. I think it was Michael Donnellan who said that we are on the verge of taking people on for the first time since the numbers fell, that we now have the ability to recruit people, that we are in a position to do something a little different and that prison officers have been struggling with lower numbers for a long time. Is that the case? New grades have been introduced recently at a very low level of starting wages and conditions for staff, which would make it very difficult. Is this new recruitment at proper prison officer grade? There was a new minor grade, not really that of a prison officer, and I am not sure this is a good way to go about it, but-----