FOLLOWING MINISTER BRENDAN Howlin’s announcement that more than 23,000 public sector jobs are to go by 2015, TheJournal.ie has taken a look at what new posts have actually been filled in the civil service since the new Government took over.
New court criers and ushers, six archivists for a 2016 defence project and 40 computer staff at the Department of Finance have all been approved by Howlin in the past nine months.
A moratorium is currently in place throughout the civil service, meaning new hires have to be passed as special cases by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
Figures released yesterday highlight what positions the department have refused to fill and which they have granted exceptions to.
There are a number of reasons why some jobs are filled and others are not. In some cases, a failure to fill posts could breach EU or international regulations. Other roles, such as the Director of Public Prosecutions, are statutory and have to be filled for legal reasons.
Since the moratorium was implemented in 2009, some 1,792 positions have been filled. However, requests for 2,538 exceptions were made.
Since Howlin took office in March, he has approved 373 positions across all departments (not including temporary CSO positions for the Census).
When the coalition took over earlier this year, each Minister was allowed to appoint various staff, including drivers, personal secretaries, personal assistants and special advisors. These appointments account for the majority of the 373 exceptions to the moratorium.
Breakdown of other positions
In the courts, three tip staffs (ushers and criers) were appointed due to “operational needs”, while a legal officer and three legal researchers were also hired.
A coroner and taxing master were hired in the Department of Justice but another 18 jobs for executive officers are “under consideration”.
The Government refused to allow the Gardaí to hire 31 additional civilian staff to answer emergency calls or 25 people to work on the backlog at the vetting services. However, permission was granted to have 10 staff work on the vetting applications.
In April, the Department also refused to grant permission for the Gardaí to hire a new crime analyst but they were able to appoint two Human Resource managers.
The position of Head Grooms Person in the Gardaí (who leads the mounted unit) is under consideration as a replacement has been requested due to retirement.
In education, two post-primary inspectors were hired but permission to appoint a third was not granted. The Department also received permission to appoint a superintendent cleaner.
Two critical positions – the Chief Veterinary Officer and Director of Laboratories – were given exceptions in July at the Department of Agriculture.
To ensure continuation of services, a Principal Meteorological Officer was hired by Mét Eireann in August. A further 11 meteorological positions are currently being decided upon.
In the Department of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State Lucinda Creighton has asked for a special advisor and a replacement personal assistant. Both requests are “under consideration”.
In the finance department, 40 ICT staff were hired in order to reduce consultancy costs while at the Revenue Commissioners, 18 customs staff were installed at the new Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport.
Two executive officers were hired by the Taoiseach’s office to maintain the Government’s news website.
Temporary positions have been created for six contract archivists to work on a 2016 project for the Department of Defence.
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