Ms Fiona Quinn:

Recruitment is done by the Public Appointments Service at senior level on behalf of the local government sector and by the local authorities themselves at more junior levels. In both cases there are challenges. We are experiencing this right across the State in the public and private sectors when recruiting and trying to ensure a sufficient pipeline of experienced and appropriately qualified staff coming on board. That is reflective of the economy in general. We will work with the Public Appointments Service, as the local government sector does. The CCMA and LGMA have regular meetings with the Public Appointments Service to ensure that recruitment process keeps moving. It is a challenge right across the economy, as we know, and particularly for skilled staff like senior executive engineers. We are seeing it in the Civil Service with planners and IT staff. All we can do is keep working on that and try to work with the Public Appointments Service to ensure we get staff on board as quickly as possible.