Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The next area I want to focus on is standards, which the Minister of State touched on in her initial reply. I would appreciate if she could expand on it here. I am hearing from unions - SIPTU, in particular, has been in contact with me - and workers that there is a real concern that in the rush to address the backlog, standards are being driven down and new recruits or internal transfers within the company are not qualified to the same standard. Traditionally, it has been the case that the inspectors would be qualified motor mechanics with additional experience and intensive training. The Minister of State pointed towards QQI level 5. That is not the standard in Ireland that it might be elsewhere. How exactly are standards being maintained? Does the Minister of State accept that these new recruits are not qualified to the same standard?

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