Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

The primary school-going population changes very little after Hallowe'en. If, therefore, the Minister approved appointments in respect of 99.99% of the 475 positions, I do not believe he would be straying outside the terms of the employment control framework. The earlier approvals issue the better. This matter is of the utmost importance to the children and families involved.

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