Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A €2,000 increase for new entrants has been sanctioned and those who have signed up to the Lansdowne Road agreement will see that happen. The Minister for Education and Skills is also actively considering other measures to assist in the retention and recruitment of teachers. Pay restoration is something that we all want to see happening. Pay inequality is an issue that many of us want to see addressed to the benefit of all teachers. It is important to recognise that the Minister for Education and Skills has put in place a very active campaign around recruitment of teachers, special needs assistants and other posts of responsibility.

Senator Mac Lochlainn raised the issue of Letterkenny University Hospital. I do not have answers to the specific questions posed by the Senator but I do know that the budget for Letterkenny hospital has increased from €91 million to over €121 million in the last five years. The Senator has raised issues to which I do not have answers now but I will raise them with the Minister for Health. I am sure that Senator Mac Lochlainn, Deputies McHugh and Pearse Doherty and other representatives from the area will be able to work together to ensure that there is sufficient capital investment in the hospital. I know that when Senator James Reilly was the Minister for Health and Children he-----