As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has been engaged in an extensive recruitment exercise over the past two years and this will continue into 2015 as progress continues to be made in establishing and resourcing the Shared Services Offices, the Office of Government Procurement and the OGCIO. Although redeployment is being utilised wherever possible, these new offices also require an initial investment in targeted, strategic recruitment in order to ensure that the necessary skillsets are available to realise significant savings in the future through more efficient and innovative ways of service delivery.
The following table gives the number of new staff employed from 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2013 and to date in 2014, in respect of all the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Votes.
|
-
|
2013
|
2014
|
|
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
|
6
|
19
|
|
Shared Services
|
50
|
189
|
|
Office of Government Procurement
|
3
|
80
|
Any additional costs arising from staff recruitment were incorporated into the Department's Revised Estimates for 2013 and 2014. Decisions around future staffing and pay ceilings will, as normally is the case, be a matter for Government in the context of forthcoming Budgets and any additional costs will be reflected in my Department's Vote allocation.
