Mr. Phelim Quinn:

On each occasion we are required to identify the vacancy and notify the Department which, in turn, will then provide us with sanction. Back as far as 2016 it was even more complicated than that. The Department did not have the authority to sanction certain posts and had to go to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Sanction had to be received from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, after which we were notified by the Department of Health. Then we were able to initiate the recruitment process. However, that has changed in more recent times. Posts at a level below that of principal officer can be sanctioned by the Department. At least there has been a speeding up of the sanctioning process.