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

The other side of the coin is that we have never had more people in work than we have now and we have never had a bigger public service. As I said a few moments ago, our public service has grown by over one quarter. In health, we have more than 20,000 more full-time equivalents working in the health service than we had before the pandemic. The sheer growth and our successful efforts to recruit so many people into the public service does not point to a significant recruitment problem. I do accept that for many who are working in the public service, with all that is changing in the cost of living and with an economy that is doing so well with so many people at work, they do feel acute pressure with regard to their living standards and the impact of inflation on their ability to look after themselves. I acknowledge that but that is why we have a wage agreement in place that we brokered and reached at a time of some uncertainty and it is why I also hope to be in a position to reach agreement on a new wage agreement a little later in the year.

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