Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I thank the Taoiseach for putting on record quite an amount of detail in respect of the staffing of the Attorney General's office. He said the total staffing complement is 133. The an bord snip nua report states the staffing complement in 2007 was 138. Will the Taoiseach explain this difference? Is it due to temporary contracts? Are there vacancies and are they likely to be filled? How many temporary contracts have been renewed? In particular, how many have been renewed since March 2008 when the ban was imposed on the renewal of such contracts? Is the Taoiseach satisfied the staffing complement in the Attorney General's office is sufficient to meet the office's requirements and, in particular, to meet the requirement to maintain the flow of legislation to the House?

See this speech in context