Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Public Accounts Committee
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process
12:40 pm
Mr. Robert Watt:
We are talking about a few hundred for this year. There is a competition for between 140 and 160. That is a small number for a system of 35,000. It is very hard for us to change the age profile dramatically. People are retiring and as they retire we will bring in younger groups over time and that will change it. However, it does reflect a planning failure. I do not wish to criticise people who came before me but it is a major planning problem. We would like to reach the point where we would recruit people every year. There should be a steady flow. Hopefully, when the financial conditions are better and the fiscal situation is different we will be in a position to do that.