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Departmental Staff Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2019

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Questions (97)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

97. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of personnel by grade in his Department in each of the years 2009 to 2018 and to date in 2019. [45173/19]

View answer

Written answers

The following table provides details of the number of civil service posts by grade in my Department in each of the years from 2009 to 31 October, 2019.

The Deputy will note from that the overall staffing numbers in the Department of Defence have decreased by some 14%; from 409 at the end of 2008, to a figure of 352 at 31 October, 2019. As outlined in the table, while the overall numbers have declined the profile of the posts has changed somewhat to reflect the evolving policy based issues for the defence sector, both national and international, increased activity in areas such as HR and procurement, governance and supporting engagement with the Oireachtas. In addition, the transfer of a number of transactional HR and payroll functions, involving predominantly clerical grades, to the National Shared Services Office has also impacted on the required skills and workforce profile of my Department.

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department comprises of both a civil and a military element. The civil element is headed by the Secretary General and the military element by the Chief of Staff. Both elements provide support to me as Minister in the management of defence. Defence Forces' Headquarters is the military element of the Department, with an establishment of over 320 military personnel.

Civil-military collaboration in the Department enables the delivery of defence across the three strategic dimensions set out in the Statement of Strategy; defence policy, ensuring the capacity to deliver and Defence Forces' operational outputs. Also, the White Paper on Defence, which provides the policy framework for defence to 2025, is being implemented through a project management framework built on civil-military collaboration. A number of additional civil servants have been assigned directly to work within military units to provide specialist skills and expertise in key areas such as finance, procurement and analysis.

In addition, the Department of Defence continues to play an important role in the areas of Civil Defence, Emergency Planning, enterprise development and societal supports and I am satisfied that the appropriate resources are in place to discharge the functions of my Department.

Staff numbers in the Department of Defence

GRADE

01.01.09

01.01.10

01.01.11

01.01.12

01.01.13

01.01.14

01.01.15

01.01.16

01.01.17

01.01.18

01.01.19

31.10.19

SECRETARY GENERAL

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

3

3

3

DIRECTOR

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

PRINCIPAL

14.5

13.7

12.6

14.6

13.8

13.7

14.7

14.7

15.1

15.1

16.1

16.4

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

37.9

34.9

34.7

33.7

35.7

35.7

37.7

39.7

38.7

41.7

42.85

46.8

ACCOUNTANT

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1.95

LEGAL ADVISOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

HIGHER EXECUTIVE OFFICER

60.83

56.93

55.46

55.12

57.36

57.23

57.23

57.5

58.1

59.93

67.3

67.7

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

3

6

5

4.95

4.95

EXECUTIVE OFFICER/STAFF OFFICER

114.68

104.53

99.36

98.56

101.26

99.86

98.29

90.29

95.13

88.75

99.47

100.84

CLERICAL OFFICER

141.6

128.6

120

118.76

117.43

114.54

114.12

106.49

103.09

94.19

84.24

90.9

STOREMAN/STOREKEEPER/  PAPERKEEPER/CLEANER

9

8

5

4

4

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

HEAD SERVICES OFFICER/    SERVICES OFFICER                                   

19.73

18

15.8

13

11

9

10

9.73

10

9.8

9.8

9.8

MINISTER'S STAFF

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

4

4

4

4

TOTALS

409.24

375.66

353.92

347.74

349.55

342.03

343.04

331.41

339.12

328.47

338.71

352.34

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