Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Is the Minister saying to line managers in the public service to come to him to say there is a need for jobs to be created in an area, for example the maintenance section in Dublin City Council? The manager there says we need at least ten new apprentices because we cannot deliver to our tenants what is expected of us and cannot maintain properties. Has the Minister sent that message to line managers across local authorities and in the HSE so that they can give him the information he needs to be able to say we need to lift the moratorium and recruit for specific areas of work? I accept the Minister's point about social workers who are being recruited currently. In Leinster House, the service officers being recruited now are earning more money than service officers working here currently. Such issues must be addressed as well as how those injustices can be dealt with.

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