Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senator O'Toole. I was making clear to Senator McDowell that the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas are civil servants of the State, but it is far from clear that where a Member engages a secretarial assistant by way of contractual fixed-term arrangement, such a person is a member of the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas and therefore a civil servant. My understanding is that the contract is drafted in such a way that he or she is not.