Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:260 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications currently on hand in his Department for transfer to Listowel, County Kerry. [31529/03]
Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.
I presume the Deputy is referring to the central transfer list for County Kerry which is maintained by my Department for general Civil Service grades. This lists includes staff serving in my Department and those in other Departments who have expressed an interest in transferring to various locations in that county.
I should mention the position regarding transfers to provincial areas for staff officers and clerical officers is that they are arranged in accordance with the standardised transfer system which has been agreed with the Civil and Public Service Union and applies to all Departments. The agreement provides that applications for transfer are recorded in order of the date of receipt of each application. When vacancies arise they must then be offered in this order. No formal transfer agreement with the relevant unions exists for staff at executive officer level or above.
Between my Department and the Courts Service, there are a total of 198 applications for transfer to locations in County Kerry. This figure may include persons who, since making their application, have been promoted or left their parent Department for reasons unknown to my own Department. They also reflect multiple applications by individuals for separate locations.