Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I do not want to bestow any negative publicity on public servants, regardless of what they earn. However, this is an important and pertinent question. It was tabled by my colleague, Deputy Tom Fleming, who, due to a family bereavement, cannot be present. The Minister indicated that 319 of the public servants who were rehired are teachers. I accept there was a need to rehire these individuals this year but for far too long retired teachers have been brought back to work. This is happening everywhere and young people who have just qualified as teachers cannot obtain employment. This has been the case for far too long. The schools have it down to a fine art and a system has been worked out whereby those who return to work - both teachers and principals - only work a certain number of hours. That is just not good enough.

The Minister stated that the 319 teachers to whom he referred are no longer engaged, and that this means only 155 public servants have been re-engaged across all sectors. I am not questioning his ability - I have great time for the Minister - but I do not know whether the information with which he has been provided is accurate. Is 155 the actual figure? It is easy for staff to return to Departments in which they previously worked. I acknowledge that none have returned to the Minister's Department. Perhaps that is because he is the individual responsible for the pruning.

What did the Minister mean when, in reference to the Pensions (Abatement) Act 1965, he stated that someone who goes on pension and is then retained in or re-employed by the Civil Service cannot be paid any more than the amount of which they were in receipt when they left the service in the first instance? I thank the Minister for his reply but I am of the view that further teasing out is required.

See this speech in context