Ms Eileen Creedon:

I have managed to get some solicitors in, but very often they are quickly offered another position with better money. They will join rather than remain unemployed. It is gratifying for me that when solicitors join the office, they find the work rewarding and interesting. However, it is difficult for them to stay with me if they get an offer in excess of the salary we offer. There was a time when I would have had discretion on the entry scale, depending on an entrant's qualifications and experience. That discretion has been taken from me. There were also some increments I could award within that scale to ease the pain of the low entry salary, but that has also been taken away. This double-whammy imposed in 2010 has made recruitment difficult.