I am advised that the number of staff of my Department who retired, left or otherwise departed between 1 July 2013 and 31 December 2013 was 15.82 full time equivalents. The expected annual savings in a full year would be approximately €880,000 if none of these posts were filled.
The number of staff who have left and at this time are expected to leave in 2014 is 47.24 full time equivalents. The expected annual savings in the first full year of these posts not being filled would be €2,920,000 approximately.
The number of staff expected to leave in 2015 under their respective pension plans is 12.9 full time equivalents and the expected annual savings in the first full year of these posts being vacant would be €656,000 approximately. The number of staff expected to leave in 2016 under their respective pension plans is 14.5 full time equivalents and the expected annual savings for the first full year of these posts being vacant would be €822,000 approximately.
The savings outlined above assume posts are not filled. My Department, based on sanctions received from my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, has filled a range of priority posts. Such posts have been filled through a combination of redeployment of staff from other areas of the civil and public service and in a very limited number of cases by recruitment and promotions.
The numbers given above do not include staff who were employed by my Department on a temporary or fixed term contracts and who left when those contracts expired.
In the context of the numbers retiring, my Department's strategy has been to protect the front-line services as far as possible by deployment of resources from support and ancillary areas to critical front-line areas. My Department is also actively engaged in the public services reform process so as to make the best use of reducing human and other resources in the context of reduced resources generally.
