Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the various therapy services, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services, some years ago the public service cap on recruitment was lifted to provide staff for these services. There were approximately 210 posts nationally and the calculations were made based on the level of provision nationally. I have a very strong memory of it because, of the 210 posts - I think it was 210 - nearly 60 were in my area, which demonstrates that an area which is growing will be catching up. It is not very surprising that that is the profile. Are all of the posts permanent? Were they filled? Are there associated vacancies? Has the process been repeated?