Mr. Damian Ginley:

I will try to answer as best I can. On the question of the hours, in our submission we just gave examples of a snapshot of information we receive from colleagues on the current level of vacancies. My understanding is that there are efforts afoot to try to address those vacancies around the country. The impact of the vacancies, from the point of view of the organisation, is twofold. Obviously, there is also a knock-on implication for the client availing of the service or trying to avail of the service. What our members are saying to us is that in the offices where they do not have fully resourced staff, they are trying to juggle people around, cross cover and they are making decisions as to who is most in urgent need of care or prioritisation. They are making calls on whether somebody can be - I do not like using the word "skipped" - left today and prioritised tomorrow, and taking measures like that. We understand that where urgent care needs exist, the hours are then going to the private providers, who are backfilling where they can. To assist the smooth operation of the service, which is key for the person who is availing of the service, we need these posts to be filled, because then, our colleagues in Fórsa and their team there could populate rosters to ensure that there are no gaps or fewer gaps in them. They would have the resources available to ensure that if, for example, a worker is unavailable because he or she is on sick leave or annual leave, there is cover in the numbers employed. That way, we can get away from that response reaction, as opposed to a planned approach. As I said, the impact on the ground is that decisions are being taken on whether a full hour or a half hour can be provided to a particular client on a particular day, based on resources. That is the real impact of not having full recruitment.