Mr. Robert Watt:

We have reduced overall numbers by 30,000 since the peak in 2007. Within that we have not reduced but increased the number of teachers. We have not reduced the total number of nurses. The reduction in numbers outside those core front-line areas is very significant, 15% to 20% in some cases. Across the system there are pressures and strains. We are confident, through redeployment mechanisms, productivity changes and additional hours, that we can reduce numbers further in the context of the agreement, although it will be difficult. The moratorium is in place. There are exceptions to this in a number of areas. Teachers and hospital nurses who retire are replaced. Recruitment happens in a variety of areas in the HSE. However in large swathes of the public sector there is no recruitment.

In the Civil Service we have started a very modest amount, which we have to do given the demographic pressures we face. In the Irish Civil Service the median age is 47 and there are very few people under 30. We have a large number of senior people, such as principal officers and assistant secretaries, approximately half of whom will retire over the next three or four years, so we need to start planning for the Civil Service will have in the future. We recruited graduates last year for the first time and our competition is ongoing. We also plan to do some executive officer recruitment. We are doing a little recruitment which we can manage within the fiscal constraints.