Ms Martina Mannion:

The Deputy has hit the nail on the head with regard to where we were coming from as a Department. We were very anxious not to pitch it at a particular academic level because we wanted to ensure the competition would get people with fluency and competency, and while they may not necessarily have had a particular level, they could do the job with the children. It is important the great is not the enemy of the good, for want of a better description, and if people with competency are available to do this work, we can facilitate them in doing that. This has very much been the Department's position. Equally, we want to ensure people can get to the proficiency level as a result of the qualification. We see this as a twin-track approach. It is about making sure we can get the people into the schools and into the system as quickly as possible to work with the children and to continue to increase the overall qualification and capacity in the system.