Vol. 569 No. 5
21 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of vacancies which exist in her Department under the clerical officer, executive officer, higher executive officer, staff officer, administrative officer, assistant principal and principal officer grades; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18069/03]
The number of posts filled in my Department at present is 4,366. This is 50 posts higher than the Departments authorised number of core posts as set under Government policy on public service numbers. The difference between the core staffing allocation and the number of posts currently filled arises from temporary sanctions for staff to deal with specific projects of a temporary nature. As the sanctions for temporary posts lapse the necessary reduction in staff numbers must be implemented on a gradual basis and when posts fall vacant, when a vacancy arises in any area, the question of filling it has to be considered in the context of the overall excess on sanctioned numbers, but taking account of the needs of the service.
The fact that the Department is heavily decentralised means that the management of this process can be difficult. The present position, which is subject to ongoing review, is that, pending completion of the process of achieving overall target staff numbers while ensuring that the available resources are deployed to meet the changing business needs in different locations, 51 posts have not been replaced in the following grades: PO one; AP one; HEO four; EO seven; SO seven; and CO 31.
