AROUND HALF of the staff at the Department of Finance do not have any qualifications in business, economics or related fields, it has emerged.

Data published by Michael Noonan shows that a significant number of his staff, who between them have a total of 422 qualifications in various areas and levels, do not have qualifications in the fields most closely related to the Department’s work.

The Department’s staff possess 74 economics qualifications at various levels – including one holding a PhD and 25 with Masters degrees.

Of the 422 qualifications – split among approximately 260 staff at the Department – over half, 252, are in fields other than accountancy, business, economics, law or finance.

The figures, provided by Noonan in response to independent TD Stephen Donnelly, show staff holding 14 finance qualifications and 25 legal qualifications.

Staff also hold 24 accountancy positions, including four professionally qualifications, and 33 business qualifications including five with masters’ degress.

Noonan said the 252 ‘other’ qualifications included disciplines such as engineering, sciences, human resources, management and IT.

(This image contains a chart showing the various qualifications within the Department.)

He also stressed that some officers in his Department carried more than one qualification, and that the table did not include staff who worked pro bono.

Donnelly had requested the figures relating specifically to the staff who negotiated the Irish bailout with the EU and IMF.

Noonan has responded by saying the departmental staff who had negotiated the original and subsequent memoranda of understanding had been assisted by outside consultants from a series of major advisory firms.

Those firms included Davy, Goldman Sachs, Lazard, McKinsey, NM Rothschild, PWC, Barclays, Boston Consulting, Blackrock, Arthur Cox and Matheson Ormsby Prentice.

Edit: As commentor Gavin Duffy points out, the Department's 260 staff is likely to include those working for the State Laboratory, which is administratively handled by the Dept of Finance, and which would require non-financial qualifications.