Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am looking at the accounts. The chapter refers to restoring a credible service. On page 11 of the accounts for the Valuation Office, there is an explanation, under "Administration - pay", which states "A recruitment campaign for ten additional valuer staff was held early in 2016 but only four staff were ultimately appointed from that competition." The Valuation Office was looking for ten but only got four. There is clearly a big gap in the staff here. I will make a comment and then listen to Mr. O'Sullivan's answer. I read this with horror. I look at the number of premises that have to be assessed and see that only four additional staff when ten were sought to be recruited. The relevant chapter also states, "A further campaign is planned in early 2017." Will Mr. O'Sullivan give me an update on that? The chapter further states "There was provision in the estimate to pay €0.2 million for a restructuring of staffing levels to restore a credible structure." Will Mr. O'Sullivan deal with that? It is further stated, in a way that does not make sense to me, that "Due to protracted discussions with staff interests, no progress was made on this issue until late 2016. Both of these issues resulted in a significant variance from planned expenditure." Will Mr. O'Sullivan elaborate on that?