Vol. 573 No. 3
684 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the number of vacant service officer posts in his Department; the reason they have not been filled; if he intends to fill them in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25280/03]
The authorised staff complement of my Department, excluding industrial staff, is 1,431 posts. At the end of September my Department employed the whole-time equivalent of 1,365.61 staff. This leaves a total of 65.39 vacant posts. At any one time a proportion of posts may be vacant due to the normal turnover of staff and other human resources planning considerations, such as the consolidation and restructuring of work in the Department.
Having regard to a Government decision of late 2002 on the reduction in public service numbers, my Department must reduce its non-industrial staffing complement by 43 no later than the end of 2005. This requirement, along with overall administrative budget considerations, will be factors in HR planning decisions relating to the filling of all posts within my Department.
