Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The issue is that while the response has outlined the contractual arrangements for the non-established offices, the reality is that DPER has acknowledged this is an issue. It is in the minutes of the national joint industrial council for State employees. It has acknowledged it is a complex issue and said it would engage with the WRC conciliatory process. We need progress on that because we have people who have 30 years' experience working as guides within the OPW and have no path of progression within the job they have chosen to do. Many of them have taken on masters courses in heritage and history for which they are not compensated. There is no facility for training within the OPW other than first aid courses. Some employees are multilingual. They have taken on extra languages at their own expense and yet there is no acknowledgement of this in their pay and conditions. I encourage DPER to engage with the unions since it has acknowledged there are issues but we need to resolve the issues. Acknowledging them is just the first step.