Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The difficulty is that the Minister has not addressed the question of how he will meet the significant backlog. He has expressed some surprise about how busy the vetting unit is, but that was always going to be the case in light of its responsibilities. I would like to know why the backlog is so stark. There are people emigrating from this country on a daily basis. Nurses who cannot get jobs in this country, as a result of current Government policy, cannot take up the employment they are being offered outside his jurisdiction because they do not have vetting certificates from Thurles. Is this an information technology problem? Is it a personnel problem? Is it a resource problem? I asked the Minister to outline the steps he proposes to take to address the backlog. He spoke about the backlog and stated it would take some time. By my reckoning, it would take up to five years to deal with the teachers' cohort alone. Is the Minister suggesting that he does not intend to take any steps?

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