Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

That is nearly accurate, but not completely accurate. There is nothing to say that people cannot constitute themselves into an ad hoc group. They must write in the first instance to the people who pay them. The people who administer their pay must then refer to the higher authority, such as the Department and the HEA. When they have made a recommendation on it, it can be submitted to the Minister. They do not go directly to the Minister as it is a multiple stage process.

Research workers in publicly funded third level institutions are part of the broadly defined public sector. Conditions for scientific research in our universities have vastly improved over the past ten years. We now have career research workers in these institutions, as opposed to lecturers, professors and so on. That is part of the broad context which we have considered. The Senator might have noticed from my reply that anybody who is there for a relatively short period and who will never be able to benefit from a pension can be reimbursed.