asked the Minister for Labour if he will give details of all the Manpower offices in the Twenty-six Counties and the number and grade of all staff employed including the Manpower head offices and administrative and clerical staff.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers - Manpower Offices.
4.
The National Manpower Service comprises 44 offices throughout the country. For administrative purposes, the service is divided into eight regions. I propose to circulate details of the regions and the offices included in each region in the form of a tabular statement in the Official Report.
There is a total of 307 staff employed in the field service of the National Manpower Service. The various grades and number in each grade will also be set out in the Official Report.
The head office staff in the National Manpower Service are involved in the overall management of the service and provide a back up service to the field operations. They are involved in the administration of a range of employment schemes such as the social employment scheme, enterprise allowance scheme, employment incentive scheme and work experience programme, The number of head office staff is set out in the tabular statement.
The total number employed in the National Manpower Service field and head office is 366.
Following is the statement:
National Manpower Service
|
Region |
Number of offices |
Location of offices |
|
Midland Region |
6 |
Athlone, Longford, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Roscommon and Tullamore. |
|
East Region |
10 |
O'Connell Bridge House and D'Olier House, Dublin 2, Coolock, Finglas, Ballyfermot, Tallaght, Dún Laoghaire, Bray, Arklow, New-bridge and Navan. |
|
North East Region |
4 |
Dundalk, Cavan, Drogheda and Monaghan. |
|
West Region |
4 |
Galway, Tuam, Ballina and Castlebar. |
|
Mid West Region |
6 |
Limerick, Ennis, Nenagh, Newcastle West, Shannon and Thurles. |
|
North West Region |
4 |
Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, Ballybofey and Letterkenny. |
|
South East Region |
5 |
Waterford, Carlow, Clonmel, Kilkenny and Wexford. |
|
South West Region |
5 |
Cork, Bantry, Mallow, Tralee and Killarney. |
National Manpower Service
Field Staff — numbers and grades
|
Number |
Grade |
|
8 |
Regional Directors |
|
13 |
Assistant Regional Directors |
|
12 |
Occupational Guidance Officers |
|
128 |
Placement Officers |
|
146 |
Clerical and ancillary staff |
National Manpower Service
Head Office Staff numbers and grades
|
Number |
Grade |
|
1 |
National Director |
|
1 |
Principal Officer |
|
4 |
Assistant Principal Officers |
|
8 |
Higher Executive Officers |
|
14 |
Executive Officers |
|
31 |
Clerical and ancillary staff |
I accept the tabular statement to which the Minister referred. Might I ask the Minister if the co-ordination and rationalisation, on a computerised basis, are completed between those 44 offices?
No, they are not. In fact I am dissatisfied with the rate of progress we are making in trying to provide an integrated computerised service for the entire National Manpower Service system. If the Deputy wishes to put down a question I can give him the precise details. But I should say that the Dublin regional area of the National Manpower Service is on a limited computerised facility. The rest of the entire seven regions are on a manual system which is highly unsatisfactory at present. We are at the stage of implementing a design and instal programme for computerisation of the entire national system.
I raised the question of that system in the House several times before. I am sorry to hear from the Minister that it is falling behind. Is it being undertaken by the Department themselves or is there an outside computer agency dealing with it?
The precise position at present is — here I am speaking from memory and subject to correction — that the Department have sought tenders from various consultancy firms following a preliminary survey prepared by a consultancy company setting out the requirements. We are at the final stages in taking a decision as to which consultancy firm will get the contract. The period of implementation will be at least 12 months from the date of commencement of that contract.
By way of a passing comment, the Minister will know that there are software and hardware packages across the water fully available which, admittedly, would cost a lot but which could be utilised rather than some new company having to undertake the whole task again, costing the State a lot of money. I cannot understand the delay. If one takes the example of a city such as Birmingham, which undertook all of this work ten years ago, it should be remembered that they have a comparable population and I am sure the appropriate programmes could be purchased for very small amounts.
I share and appreciate the Deputy's concern in this regard. Like him, I have no desire that the Irish taxpayer should pay for the re-invention of the wheel. It is my aim to ensure that will not be the case. To date indications are — again I am speaking from memory and subject to correction — that some of the computerised systems available to the National Manpower Services Commission in Britain have not proved to be as satisfactory as initial reports led one to believe.
When does the Minister expect to be in a position to update the data facilities of the National Manpower Service so that the widespread frustration felt by unemployed people can be alleviated in some way?
I cannot give a precise answer to that. As I said in an earlier reply to the Deputy, it will be at least a year before we see any substantial improvement in the present situation.
Why will it take so long?
I allowed the Deputy a final question.