Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2023
372. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of vacancies within local authority veterinary services; his proposals to ensure an adequate service across all local authority areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25717/23]
View answer373. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of whole-time veterinary inspector positions; the number and duration of vacancies, by year 2017 to date, by local authority, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25718/23]
View answer374. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will urgently address the failure of local authorities to maintain the local authority veterinary service over the past five years; the actions that will be taken to fill vacant whole-time local authority veterinary inspector posts to maintain standards in food safety, animal welfare, and public health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25719/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 372, 373 and 374 together.
Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible.
My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of overall local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis. However, granular data, in terms of the detailed breakdown of the numbers and grades of the staff allocated to specific work areas within local authorities or the number of vacancies in specific work areas is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department. The relevant information would be available from each local authority.
