Mr. Daithí Ó Caigne:

The Department has developed an overarching HR strategy for the Civil Service. This speaks to the Civil Service becoming an employer of choice and the Civil Service developing a workforce for the future. Key to that is that we have robust workforce plans from which we will derive strategic recruitment plans. These will inform the Public Appointments Service's engagement in terms of all forms of recruitment, be they internal or external. This Department has put in place the mechanism by which Departments and offices can identify their requirements. From our point of view, we would work with the Public Appointments Service to ensure as best we can that the requirement is met. That is the key contribution.