Mr. Terry Hyland:

May I jump in there as well? As an employer who is multifunded, the terms and conditions are often set by various funders. There are disparities between them as well. We have staff within our own organisation who will have no pension entitlements until auto-enrolment comes in, yet there are people sitting beside them who do have pension entitlements. The problem with annual funding is that, when the Revised Estimates come out around December, we potentially have to put people on protective notice two weeks before Christmas because we cannot guarantee them contracts of employment in January.

The community and voluntary sector has become so professionalised in terms of the services delivered that staff are highly sought after by local authorities and the HSE due to their skill sets. Therefore, the community and voluntary sector is competing with the public sector for high-quality employees but cannot offer the same terms and conditions, or even salaries. Our offering is about 10% or 15% behind on salaries with no security of employment. These people have their own homes, lives and mortgages and we cannot be competitive. That puts us on the back foot. We look after the most vulnerable in society, so we need to make sure we have the right quality of people. Ms Lennon mentioned that in her opening statement.