Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)

I appreciate there has been a collective approach to our engagement this morning. I have found it really informative with the back-and-forth, but also going to seek answers and stuff. I really appreciate the witnesses' approach.

On recruitment, we see in the PSNI new recruits and trainees are on salary from the minute they start their training programme, on point 1 of the scale, whereas in An Garda Síochána it is a €350 per week payment. I acknowledge food, subsistence and stuff like that is covered while recruits are in training, but has a business case ever been put before the Department of public expenditure for trainees to be paid on point 1 of the salary from day 1? It is possibly acting as a barrier to recruitment.