Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

That is a good question. Many people did not understand - although obviously those in the House did - the nature of the exit at the end of February. Put simply, those who were coming up to retirement did a calculation in which they compared their expected retirement pensions and lump sums with the amount that would be available at the end of the grace period and decided, based on this, whether it was in their interest to leave. Many people left, but they were mostly people who were on the edge of retirement - within a year or two or within a few months of retirement.

We had no control over who left in February, and we lost some people a year or two early whom we would have preferred to hold on to for a couple more years. If there is to be more downsizing it will be on a targeted basis, applying to areas in which we clearly have too many people whom we cannot redeploy within the terms of the Croke Park agreement. We have made no decisions on that, but I will keep the Deputy informed.

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