asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the recruitment embargo is hitting aid agencies such as APSO and HEDCO with particular severity due to their small size; and if he has any proposals to deal with such a situation.

APSO has lost two staff members out of a total of 20. However its staffing situation will improve shortly with the return of one of its staff from a career break leaving just one vacancy at clerical level. HEDCO is not a public service body and so the recruitment embargo does not apply to it.