Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will appreciate that I was not inviting him to name individual officials, but it would be helpful for us to have a sense of who from within the system was charged with carrying forward the negotiations. That was my point. Perhaps the Minister might tell us how many officials will be involved. He stated that there would be 15 from his Department, but how many might be involved when the line Departments and others are included?

The Minister mentioned June as a possible date for updating the House. He has not told us much about the mandate that he has given his officials, although I have concluded that there is no specific emphasis on the low paid in the public sector. What form or shape does he hope will be arrived at for the agreement? I assume that he has in mind a single, all-encompassing agreement.

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