Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 3

Written Answers. - Departmental Appointments.

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss De Valera)

Currently there are 38 vacancies in my Department in the following grades;

Assistant secretary	1
Assistant principal officers	3
Higher executive officers	1
Executive officers	2
Clerical officers	2
Professional and technical grades	11
Conservation rangers	7
Service officer and attendant grades	11

In common with other Government Departments, my Department offers family friendly initiatives such as parental leave, career breaks, job-sharing and flexible working hours and this year for the first time my Department offered term-time arrangements to members of staff. In addition, my Department offers educational support and ongoing staff training and development.

A crucial factor in the attraction and retention of staff is the provision of training and development opportunities. The roll out of the performance management and development system in my Department and the associated induction and development programme, should increase job satisfaction and ongoing career development. The system will enable staff to have a greater say in how work is managed and a personal training and development plan will be drawn up for each employee. The end result for staff will be that they will be able to enhance skills and competencies in relation to both their existing job and their career as a whole.