Vol. 536 No. 5
331 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if there are adequate numbers of staff in his Department and in the agencies under the aegis of his Department; and, if not, the number he considers necessary. [15032/01]
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has changed significantly since I took up duty as Minister in June 1997. The number of staff serving at that time was in the region of 2,950, which has risen to a figure of approximately 3,950, exclusive of Gardaí and prison officers. Growth in numbers has been driven mainly by the establishment of independent agency-type structures, principally the Courts Service, the Equality Authority, the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations and the Prisons Authority.
During my term as Minister a huge increase in demand for services has arisen in the areas of asylum and immigration. As a result I have secured an additional 650 posts approximately and have established the Refugee Applications Commission, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the Reception and Integration Agency. In addition to the above there has been a very considerable increase in demands in other areas of my Department and in this regard I have recently approached the Minister for Finance with a view to securing additional resources for areas such as probation and welfare service, Land Registry and Garda civilian staff.
There are a number of vacancies in my Department, as with any other Government Department. Every effort is being made to fill these vacancies and a number of recruitment competitions are ongoing in the relevant areas. On 22 April we availed of the public sector recruitment fair at the RDS to promote various career options within my Department which are open to potential employees.
