Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

The attitude and disposition of staff has been remarkable in terms of adapting to and accepting the changes that have been introduced. This is evident in the sheer volume of the increase in demand that has been coped with and the changes that have been made. We have a whole different way of doing business and a whole new business entity has been introduced. There has been willingness to engage with this and take on training and different roles. We would not have been able to deliver the services we have delivered if staff had not worked with us to do that. That is not to say that everybody is absolutely happy. Of course, there are cases where people feel a little bruised by some of the changes that have been put in place or have been less willing adapters. We have tried to work and communicate with staff. We have instituted a range of different measures to try to support them and invested very heavily in putting in place a new range of training supports, which will, over time, lead to accredited qualifications for staff. This will be extremely positive.

Bringing together and developing the Intreo service has allowed us to significantly improve the working environment for many staff. We still have work to do in this regard but for many staff, the working environment is much better than it was three or four years ago, as is the nature of the engagement they have with customers.

There is no doubt in my mind that staff are predominantly focused on delivering a good service to customers and, provided we give them the supports to do that, they are very happy to do it.