Vol. 441 No. 7
75 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the total number of civil servants employed in his Department; and the number who have worked in the business or commercial sphere before entering or starting their period of employment in the public service.
There is a total of 3,952 civil servants employed in my Department. Of these, 240 officers are job-sharing leaving a net total of 3,832 posts.
In relation to the second part of the Deputy's question, the Civil Service Commission is the principal recruitment agency for the Civil Service. Consequently, the details required in relation to the numbers who have worked in the business and commercial sphere before entering the public service are not readily available to his Department. I do not believe that the cost and time involved in compiling the information requested by the Deputy would be justified.
