Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2403. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of extra employees to be hired in his Department between now and March 2019 to prepare for a hard Brexit; the specific roles these new employees will take up; the estimated cost of hiring these new employees; the impacts on his Department's expenditure ceilings for 2018 and 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34670/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis Department was established to bring a greater level of coordination and cohesion to policies that impact rural Ireland and communities in order that economic recovery can be felt right across the country.
Part of that involves ensuring the potential impacts of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union are mitigated in those communities most likely to be affected by Brexit. Regional and rural businesses face enormous potential challenges on this front, particularly in the Border region and this is relevant across a number of policy areas of my Department.
In this context, considerations around the impact of Brexit are shared across different policy areas, rather than being assigned to a single Unit or dedicated staff.
My Department is currently undergoing a workforce planning process under the guidance of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Part of this process will be to identify any additional Brexit related roles, and/or Brexit related duties, which will be assigned to existing posts.
These posts will be filled from our existing 2018 pay allocation and will also form part of our staffing resource needs, to be included in our submission to the Estimates process for 2019.
