Brexit Staff

Friday, 7 September 2018

Questions (552)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

552. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of staff recruited in Enterprise Ireland, LEOs, InterTradeIreland and the IDA since the Brexit referendum in June 2016; the number of new staff hires and replacement staff in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36911/18]

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Written answers

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

As the Deputy will be aware, an additional €3 million was secured for my Department in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 targeted specifically to assist with increased staffing needs for the Department and a number of our Agencies to deal with the evolving Brexit scenario. In Budget 2018, an additional pay allocation of a further €3 million was gained for further strengthening staff resources in respect of Brexit, within the Department and some of its Agencies. These funds have, and are, enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies to recruit additional staff to supplement existing staffing numbers in the context of the workload associated with Brexit.

It is important to note however that the work of very many Business Units both within my Department and its Agencies are impacted by Brexit and are working on responding to it despite not being recruited specifically for this purpose.

The specific information requested by the Deputy in relation to recruitment in Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, InterTradeIreland and the IDA has been sought, and will be supplied separately as soon as it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A

In regard to Parliamentary Question No.36911/18 for which it was not possible to gather all the information requested in the time available, the information has now been collated in respect of the Agencies under my Department’s remit. The number of staff hired by agency is broken down as follows:

Agency	New Hire	Replacement Staff	Total
Enterprise Ireland *	237	161	398
LEO’s	0	0	0
IntertradeIreland	10	8	18
IDA**	23	84	107

* With regard to the figures provided by Enterprise Ireland, the new staff hire figure of 237 includes:

· 49 new hires to Enterprise Ireland’s two-year International Graduate Programme

· 38 new hires to Enterprise Ireland’s two-year National Graduate Programme

· 37 Brexit Posts in 2017

· 8 Brexit Posts in 2018

The remaining new hires related to the filling of vacancies which arose across overseas and domestic locations. Some of these were vacancies that existed prior to June 2016. It should also be noted that many of the local posts are based on two-year contracts.

NB. When replying to a similar question you raised in May of this year, Enterprise Ireland provided figures. They have now advised however that those figures did not reflect the new hires for the filling of vacancies that existed prior to June 2016. The above figures now include all new hires since June 2016 regardless of when the vacancy arose. This has significantly increased the numbers.

** In relation to the figures provided by IDA Ireland, I have been informed that the figures provided by the IDA in the May response were slightly miscategorised. I understand that they misunderstood the definition of “replacement” and “new hire” which resulted in a miscalculation of posts (some replacement staff were categorised as new hires). The figures above are now reflected in the appropriate columns.