Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As already discussed, I submitted a report examining the remaining salary scale issues in respect of post 2011 new entrants on Friday last. While I have outlined the proposed next steps on foot of the report, I would like to take this opportunity to share some of the findings in that report. The Deputy asks about low pay and whether this is resulting in staff shortages, particularly in health and education. It seems to be popular in some quarters to assert that the public service no longer represents an attractive career option, that there is a crisis in recruitment and a continuing focus on the difficulties within the public service.

My concern is that much of this can be counterproductive. The truth is that the public service is a good employer by any objective measurement. Public service offers a comprehensive set of terms and conditions, flexible working arrangements, decent pension provisions, fair wages that increase over time and secure employment. While public service is a career choice, and people who serve are highly motivated by the public good, the competitiveness of the package on offer can be seen in the strong level of recruitment that this report has highlighted.

Headline public service numbers already show a high level of recruitment of over 29,000 since 2013. However, this is the growth in the overall public service and as such it does not capture recruitment "below the line", replacing retirements and leavers.

The report I submitted last Friday, however, sheds light on this, revealing that over 60,500 people have been recruited in the "new entrant" grades since 2011. This represents almost a fifth of the current public service including over 16,000 teachers, 5,000 special needs assistants and almost 10,000 nurses.

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