Mr. Mark Synnott:

I thank Deputy O'Connor. The waiting time in Waterford for the first two weeks in September was 27 days. The waiting time in Youghal was 25 days. I can go through the rest of them if they are of interest. This means that every booking in scope for us that we have done looks at the first point of contact until the appointment time people could have got. These are thoroughly investigated by the authority and its supervision services contractor, and it is signed off as an appropriate mechanism for measurement. These are the dates. In terms of what we have done, certainly when I was here in February, the critical area was Dublin. We deployed many of our new recruits in the Dublin area. It is now average. The next critical area was Littleisland in Cork, which from memory was close to 40 days at one point. It is now close to 20 days. There has been a significant improvement in the Cork area.

Deputy O'Connor raised several other points, including pay for staff. For the first time we have been able to complete our wage negotiations with staff without referral to the Labour Court. The agreement that was made was balloted by the union and overwhelmingly passed. This is a healthy indication of the attitude in the staff.

Deputy O'Connor also raised a point on refunds, but I believe he was speaking about our charter obligation to give a free test if one cannot be provided within 28 days. This is a point Deputy O'Connor has made several times in the past. Again, it has been thoroughly investigated by the authority and its supervision services contractor and it has been confirmed that we have been compliant with all obligations under our charter.