Joe Higgins
Question:273 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if, notwithstanding the recent agreement to augment the number of wildlife rangers in the national parks and wildlife service to enable Ireland to comply with the new European conser vation directives, she will ensure that positions falling vacant through retirement in this service will be promptly filled to curtail the practice of short-term contracts which are both more expensive to administer and more difficult to supervise. [14102/98]