Mr. Derek Moran:

Many Civil Service organisations remain stable for a long time. We took on a number of high-quality people at the height of the crisis. After four or five years, however, they have succeeded in winning promotion to other parts of the Civil Service. We must plan manpower to back-fill that. It is healthy in one way. At the start of last year, we estimated a requirement of approximately 40 graduate entrants. Central supply was sufficient to fill in or around 30 of those posts, so we had a deficit of approximately ten at the start of this year. It is difficult. It was only yesterday that we sat down as a management team to discuss our resourcing plans. There are many vacancies to be filled in Mr. McCarthy's unit, for example, statisticians and economists. However, the solutions to all of those vacancies will arrive in the short term. It is an ongoing process. As the economy recovers, the competition for quality staff increases.