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

I asked that question innocently and that was the answer. It is one that we should be conscious of with organisations which have been created in recent years. It is a kind of a staple question we might ask to see if there is the same profile.

The Chairman demonstrated the costs with figures and there may well be an adjustment in that. There is another issue, however. If people are on contract, the organisation will have to keep on training new people coming in. Staff retention becomes an issue, as does the viability of an organisation. We can point the finger at the NTA and tell it to get this sorted out. In actual fact, it is the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that is the origin of the issue.

If we are to take action, we need to write to the Department. It has constantly asked the NTA to outline its requirement. It knows what its requirements are. It can evaluate the work of the people it is employing on a contract basis and decide what is essential employment. It is a bit like the schools building programme. One goes through many stages and one concludes that it is all about spreading money over several years. There is not even a saving in this case with the NTA. As the Chairman demonstrated, it is actually costing more. I do not think, however, we are counting the total cost. I would like us to write to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport as opposed to the NTA.