Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 February 2012
343 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will immediately recruit 214 new staff to replace those leaving at the end of the month under the early retirement scheme in view of the existing lengthy delays in the processing of social welfare applications and the envisaged greater role for Departmental staff in terms of profiling and activation which is more human resource intensive. [8020/12]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware there is currently a moratorium on recruitment across the civil and public service. I can assure the Deputy that the Department will continue to source available staff to fill critical vacancies, including those arising from retirements, by way of redeployment, or transfer from within the Department and other Government Departments, taking account of the Employment Control Framework (ECF) target, as determined by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. To this end, operational processes and procedures, the organisation of work and the staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, having regard to workloads, management priorities and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.
