Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is important to address the issue of pension liabilities. The Minister of State has clarified that local authorities and Irish Water will not have a redundancy liability. For example, in the case of a person who has been working for a county council for 15 years and enters into a 12 year sabbatical or service level agreement with Irish Water, there will be no redundancy liability at the point at which he or she departs from the local authority and any such redundancy liability will accumulate over the years and be paid at the end. I seek clarification on this point. I am not sure if I am making it clearly.

Senators have been discussing the transfer of staff from local authorities to Irish Water. I would prefer if these staff remained working in the water services or were given alternative employment, on the same terms, in the local authority sector. This would result in new jobs being created as a result of the establishment of Irish Water. Qualified individuals who are currently unemployed could then apply for the jobs and Irish people would work in Irish Water. I am not sure if only local authority staff will be transferred into roles of responsibility in Irish Water. While local authority staff have the experience required for the new positions, other individuals who are unemployed may also have the relevant experience and qualifications. Will all the positions be publicly advertised or will a specified number of them be ring-fenced for local authority staff to be transferred to Irish Water?

On the salary cap for staff of Irish Water, I understand the legislation provides, albeit in a different section-----