Mr. Robert Watt:

I have one further point. This mainly affects people who came in after 2012 but the new agreement leads to very significant reductions in the pension-related deduction, PRD, contributions to be made by people who came in after 2012. The new entrants who lost out from the pension arrangements benefit from the agreement significantly in this regard.

Any employer needs to look at what rates of pay are required to attract staff. After the end of this agreement, new entrants to the teaching profession on 1 January 2018 will have a starting salary of €35,000, which will go up to €37,000, €38,000 etc. Given the marketplace for graduates, starting salaries are very competitive. The Department recruits administrative officers as the standard graduate intake, whose starting salary is between €29,500 and €30,000, and we have no difficulty attracting fantastic graduates at that rate. The Government has to strike a balance, to be fair to different groups while-----