Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 July 2012
201 Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide in tabular form the number of persons employed in each Government Department in 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012; the number of persons employed in all of the agencies under the aegis of each Government Department in those years in a separate tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34933/12]
View answerThe Deputy should note that summary information on Public Service Numbers is available on my Department's website http://databank.per.gov.ie/.
The latest available data on Public Service numbers, with covers the period 2009 to the end of the first quarter 2012 will be forwarded to the Deputy as requested.
Ireland is committed under the EU-IMF programme to reducing the overall size of the public service. This is also a key element of the Programme for Government. Delivering this reduction will require continued implementation of the moratorium on recruitment with exceptions being limited to only essential posts and the utilisation of redeployment as the primary mechanism to fill posts which have been approved. In order to protect frontline services, the Government is committed to making fundamental changes to the way the public service operates. This will inevitably mean changes in the way in which services to the public are delivered.
The Government is committed to reducing public service numbers to 282,500 by the end of 2015 as part of its Reform Agenda. The overriding objective is to have a more customer focused, leaner, more efficient and better integrated public service which delivers maximum value for money.
It should be noted that significant progress is being made in reducing the numbers employed in the Public Service. The numbers working in the public service have continued to fall, with the provisional outturn for Quarter 1 2012 standing at 292,000. This is 28,000 below the peak numbers level of 320,000 in 2008.
