Take particular note when assistant to young leader gets special treatment (3,9)

I believe the answer is:

pay attention

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'take particular note when' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'assistant to young leader gets special treatment' is the wordplay.
'assistant' becomes 'PA' (personal assistant).
'to young leader' becomes 'y' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'gets' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'special treatment' becomes 'attention' (I've seen this before).
'pa'+'y'+'attention'='PAY ATTENTION'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pay attention that I've seen before include "Concentrate" , "Take heed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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