Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible.

My Department does not have any responsibility in relation to dog wardens. Responsibility in relation to dog control matters is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Rural and Community Development.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible. Local authorities are required to seek sanction from my Department for all new posts above agreed workforce plan levels.

In 2022, my Department received 888 staffing sanction requests for 1152 posts, in 2023 a total of 855 staffing sanction requests for 1150 posts were received and 136 staffing sanction requests in respect of 168 posts were received during the period 1 January to end February 2024. The high number of staffing sanction requests being submitted to my Department reflects the growth in new public services being delivered through the local government sector. A breakdown of these applications by local authority area is detailed in the table below.

Following the approval by my Department of a staffing sanction request, it is then a matter for the Chief Executive to progress the appointment as appropriate. Given that the structure and breakdown of directorates within a local authority are matters unique to that local authority, information in respect of what specific department within a local authority each staffing sanction request relates to is not collected in the manner sought and consequently is not available in my Department.