Mr. Paul Reid:

I thank the Deputy for his question and I am happy to address it. First of all, the matter of pay and pay policy is a matter for Government and the Department which ultimately determine the pay policy for the vaccination programme and pay policy overall. From our perspective, the different pay arrangements are acknowledgement of various different agreements and different professions. In the context of GPs and, similarly, in terms of some pharmacists as well, one is in essence dealing with sole traders. As one goes into different grades, there is a standardised grade agreed at the departmental level around the vaccination programme that we are recruiting for at present which is in the range between €35,000 and €50,000. That arrangement is in place. The point on scale will determine, based on experience, etc. It is a function of various different pay arrangements and agreements with various different professional grades associated with it.