My Department, like all Government departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative budget which for this Department has involved reductions in staff numbers.
The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to new and increasing demands in a wide range of services. This is to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department. This is managed through a programme of workforce planning to include training & development and internal redeployment of staff. It is in that context and on the basis of business needs that posts are filled.
In addition to internal redeployment, the Department fills posts from panels established by the Public Appointments Service (PAS), who are responsible for recruiting on behalf of the civil service, through internal promotion competitions and through transfers. PAS are currently working on filling 101 posts for the Department. Due to the complexities involved in the filling of posts and the number of posts involved, it is not possible to give details of exactly when a post becomes open for filling.
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) and the Pensions Authority come under the aegis of my Department. CIB currently have one vacancy which became vacant this month and was advertised on the 18th July. The Pensions Authority currently has nine posts to fill. Two of the posts were advertised by PAS and on the Pensions Authority website – one on 18th May and one on 21st June. It is envisaged that the remaining seven posts will be advertised in the coming weeks.
