Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 November 2016
128. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide details of the demographic changes over the years since 2008 and the way that has impacted on requirements for numbers of public sector workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36533/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, following the onset of the economic and fiscal crisis in 2008, a moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service was introduced in 2009, and remained in force up until end 2014, which substantially restricted recruitment to the public service throughout that period in overall terms.
However, a major priority for Government in responding to the fiscal crisis was to safeguard key public services in health, education and social protection, in which demographic factors are an important factor affecting the level of demand. Consequently, under the moratorium, there was provision for recruitment to key sectoral posts in such areas as health and education.
The moratorium ended at the beginning of 2015, and a system of delegation of sanction for management of public service numbers was introduced in most sectors. Under the delegation, there is sanction to recruit and promote in grades up to and including Principal Officer or equivalent, subject to remaining within overall pay ceilings, allowing sectors to respond to staffing pressures as they arise, including those related to demographics.
The prioritisation of frontline public service provision since the crisis allowed the numbers employed in the education sector to rise to 96,678 (Whole Time Equivalents or WTEs) by Q2 2016, an increase of 1,654 WTEs over employment level in the sectors at the end of 2008. Similarly, employment in the Health was back to pre-moratorium levels, at 105,755 WTEs at end Q2 2016.
As far as the position in the future is concerned, Table 5 on page 31 of Expenditure Report 2017 includes increases in Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings for 2018 and 2019 to meet the cost of certain demographic pressures in education, health and social Protection. The specific allocations to particular sectors for 2018 and 2019 are informed by an analysis carried out by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) within my Department. This analysis can be found on the IGEES website and the relevant link is as follows:
http://igees.gov.ie/budgetary-impact-of-changing-demographics-2017-to-2027/
