Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 May 2017
261. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the funding allocated to State agencies in 2017 to hire additional staff as a result of Brexit; the number of staff that will be hired by agency; the numbers hired to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25108/17]
View answerAn additional €3 million was secured in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 and is being targeted specifically to assist in our response to the evolving Brexit scenario. It is enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies recruit some 40 to 50 additional staff to supplement existing staffing numbers. These numbers may grow as Agencies allocate additional Own Resource Income, by agreement with the Department, to recruit further staff to work on "Brexit-related" activity.
The additional €3m has been allocated across
- Enterprise Ireland (€1,700,000)
- IDA Ireland (€750,000)
- Science Foundation Ireland (€150,000)
- The Health and Safety Authority (€150,000), and
- The Department itself (€250,000)
In terms of the Agency numbers, additional Brexit resources are being put in place in response to the €2.750m allocated for extra staff. This sum is anticipated to allow for additional Brexit staffing in Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SFI and the HSA (with a number of specific posts sanctioned and recruitment under way).
In relation to Enterprise Ireland, we have sanctioned an additional 39 posts with EI supplementing the “Brexit” pay allocation with additional Own Resource Income. 12 of the 39 posts have been filled. The remaining 27 are actively being sourced through recruitment processes.
IDA Ireland has sought 21 additional staff resources in order that it can meet the jobs and investment targets set out in its Strategy - “Winning Foreign Direct Investment 2015 – 2019” - and to meet the global challenges of 2017 and beyond with Brexit key among the identified challenges. The Agency also submitted a staff resourcing strategy to the Department in July 2016 which sought sanction for retention of the 35 staff hired on 3-year fixed term contracts under the Winning Abroad Programme. IDA has also sought to reinstate its Graduate Recruitment Programme on a three year contract basis. These latter two requests are still under consideration. Currently, IDA has official sanction to recruit 10 additional “Brexit” staff members. One of the Brexit staff members has been recruited with one other post close to being finalised.
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) have designated three new posts to have specific Brexit related responsibilities and duties. These posts have been enabled by an increase in the Foundation’s pay allocation in 2017 for Brexit specific recruitment. While these posts have yet to be filled, recruitment is currently underway.
The Health & Safety Authority has identified a need for an additional 2 “Brexit” staff and while formal approval for one of the posts has been obtained, approval for the remaining post is still awaited at Departmental level"
In respect of these Agencies, it must also be borne in mind that all these Agencies will have prioritised the Brexit implications arising for them in their individual work plans for 2017 and beyond which serving staff will contribute to as part of their day-to-day work. In this regard the staffing of these Agencies is set out below.
- EI had 575 staff in 564 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of upwards of 39 staff takes effect.
- IDA had 268 staff in 259 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of upwards of 21 staff takes effect.
- SFI had 47 staff in 46.5 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of 2 additional staff takes effect.
- HSA has 167 staff in 159 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of 2 additional staff takes effect.
The €250,000 allocated to my Department's pay budget has funded the establishment of our dedicated Brexit Unit, which currently has a staff complement of four - 1 Principal, 1 Assistant Principal, 1 Higher Executive Officer and 1 Clerical Officer.
