Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2014
141. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of staff that are drawing down retirement pensions from the public sector or Civil Service and that have been brought back on contract work or temporary contracts to work in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44122/14]
View answerThere are three staff in the Department and three staff in the agencies operating under the aegis of the Department, who have retired and have been brought back on a temporary basis as outlined below.
The Department’s Chief Medical Advisor was retained beyond his retirement date of 29 February 2012. The decision to re-employ the Chief Medical Advisor was taken due to his specific skills and his involvement in the policy reform of the illness related schemes, the difficulty and long lead-in time for replacing his skills, and the critical importance of ensuring continuity and a high level of service to customers of the Department. The Department held a competition to replace the Chief Medical Adviser in late 2013, however, no candidate was deemed suitable at interview. The position was re-advertised late last month and it is anticipated that an appointment will be made from this competition early next year.
As an exception to the current moratorium on recruitment, the Department has limited sanction to recruit temporary clerical officers to cover critical staff absences and to assist with the roll-out of the new Public Service Card. There are currently two temporary staff members who are retired civil servants occupying these posts.
The Pensions Authority and the Citizens Information Board come under the remit of the Department. Two retired public servants were re-hired by the Pensions Authority in 2011; one at Higher Executive Officer level and one at Assistant Principal Officer level. Both individuals were recruited directly by the Pensions Authority, on three year fixed-term temporary contracts. The Citizen’s Information Board had one former staff member hired on a contract for service basis from October to December 2013.
In all of these cases the rules governing abatement of pensions are applied.
