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

The Public Service Pay Commission is examining areas where there is difficulty in recruiting. The Government recognises that while observing public pay policy in a fair and even-handed way and living within the available resources, we have to be conscious of areas where there is genuine difficulty in recruiting people. The Deputy will know that such difficulties apply in many sectors, including the health sector and others. The same policy informs us that where we are seeking to recruit and in the case of higher education to recruit world class researchers who would become magnets to help develop and strengthen our third level sector. We have to be willing to pay the price necessary to get those. I believe the Deputy has always recognised that we need the best leaders in our public services.

The Government has to show some flexibility in respect of the posts it is filling and the difficulty in getting the right person for those jobs. That is the approach we are taking.

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