Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My understanding is that the ETBs, and I was a board member of the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB in the past, have autonomy and independence in hiring staff and choosing how they spend their staff budget and so on. The problem arises when they are hiring a replacement staff member whose pay is additional to the budget that has already been allocated. As the Senator is shaking his head, I may have that wrong.