Vol. 475 No. 8
156 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education whether her Department has provided any additional administrative staff to the examinations branch to deal with the introduction of the leaving certificate applied examination; and whether a skeleton staff has been provided by taking staff out of other sections in the examinations branch. [6335/97]
161 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the number of additional staff she intends to assign to the examinations branch of her Department to arrange the bar coding and collection of material from schools, to ensure that all material has been received and to follow up problems with schools and exam superintendents. [6340/97]
162 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the way in which she proposes to assure students taking the leaving and junior certificate exams in 1997 that enough staff will be in place in her Department to make all the arrangements for holding their exams, to ensure that their work will arrive securely in the Department and that they will be given the correct results in view of the fact that she has not to date secured the extra staff which her Department claims it has sought from the Department of Finance. [6341/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 156, 161 and 162 together.
The work of the examination branch of my Department is a yearly cycle which rises to a peak in the summer months. The peak period is from the start of the certificate examinations in June to the issue of the junior certificate results in mid-September. The resources employed in managing this pattern comprise a core permanent staffing complement augmented by temporary employees and overtime working.
The optimum resources required including resources needed for tracking material by the use of bar-coding, are currently the subject of a work survey which is nearing completion.
Resources are deployed within the branch at the discretion of management to meet the various deadlines.
157 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the reason it has not been possible for her Department to give any indication to the Public Service Executive Union that there will be a positive outcome to the case which her Department claims has been made to the Department of Finance for additional staff. [6336/97]
158 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the way in which it was possible for her Department to make a case to the Department of Finance for additional staff; and if it had in fact been made when she responded to questions by Deputy Micheál Martin on these matters on the basis that she had to await the outcome of a work survey on the examinations branch. [6337/97]
159 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the number of additional staff her Department has sought from the Department of Finance for the examinations branch of her Department; and the number of staff sought for the special education area. [6338/97]
160 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education her views on the case made by her Department for additional staff; and the steps, if any, she has taken to date to secure the staff sought. [6339/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 157, 158, 159 and 160 together.
Any proposal for additional staffing resources in a Department is subject to consideration in accordance with agreed procedures. These procedures operate on the basis that, in the first instance, the onus rests with the Department concerned to rigorously explore all alternatives within its own resources. The next step involves an administrative staff audit by the Department of Finance. This audit examines all relevant matters.
My Department has made a submission to the Department of Finance for extra staff in accordance with these procedures and discussions with Finance officials are ongoing. It would not be appropriate at this stage to comment in detail on the submission or to speculate on the outcome of the process.
