Ms Aine McGuirk:

I will work backwards on those questions. With regard to getting into college, by and large, many people do a primary degree. Social science was the traditional one, but it could be in social care or in a few allied courses. Then they do a masters in social work. There is also a four-year degree in Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork where people go straight through. The degree and the masters are similar to many professions. One must be interviewed to get a place on any of those courses. There have always been interviews to get into social work courses because the Deputy is correct that social work is not for everybody. The interview is part of the process to help the course providers decide who is more suitable.

On the issue of panels, the public service way of recruiting appears to be a very intricate system of national recruitment with panels and a very long, long way of getting from application-----