Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right that under the current system it is up to the local authority to decide on employment policies of that nature. I will ask the Department to look at the issue. In regard to Garda vetting, to be fair to the various management bodies they have made a big effort to streamline the process. The Teaching Council has also done a lot of work to try to streamline it. Of late, I have not been receiving the level of complaints I was receiving previously. I hope it is working itself through.

On the issue of salaries, we have made significant progress in closing the gap that existed. Talks in this area are ongoing. Hopefully, across all of these initiatives we can ease the pinch points that the Deputy points to.

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