James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I note the Minister's point that the criteria only apply to those looking for promotion. In a written reply to Deputy Thomas Byrne last month it was stated that the requirement to complete placements only affects those who apply for recruitment campaigns. That amounts, however, to saying that as long as someone does not want to progress in his or her career, it will not affect that person. Surely that is absurd.

I understand too that the Fórsa trade union has objected to the position taken by the HSE and has sought a meeting with the HSE corporate employee relations service. Does the Minister not realise that retrospectively applying new and potentially highly inappropriate criteria to existing staff is unheard of in the manner in which it is being done? The HSE seems to be prepared to allow this to happen with little regard for the impact on service division or the enormous amount of stress being placed on staff in the circumstances.

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