Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister accept that in any business or organisation, in terms of value for money for costs and work output, the optimum is having people working approximately 40 hours a week? Would there be an acceptance that if overtime is spiralling out of control, more personnel should have been recruited? I accept recruitment is starting to increase again but is there an acceptance that the number working in An Garda Síochána was allowed to slip too low given that we get more per hour out of someone working 40 hours per week than someone working 50 hours per week? That is the same in all workplaces. Likewise, in terms of cost, as a rule, time and a half is paid after 39 or 40 hours. Is there an acceptance that this could have been managed better in recent years?