Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I did give consideration to the recommendation that the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, and National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, be merged into a single workplace inspectorate. Again, however, radical differences arise in the context of the nature of these agencies and there are overlaps in their work. In the circumstances, we cannot see a merger becoming a reality or the savings that were envisaged eventually being made.

The McCarthy report sought a reduction of 594 in the number of staff across the Department and the various agencies. There are 5,150 whole-time equivalent posts across the Department and its agencies. The number of posts across both fell by 322 in 2009. Some 80 of these posts related to departmental civil servants. We are currently examining the annual staffing targets required by the Department of Finance for 2012. As the Deputy will appreciate, the transfer of FÁS had a significant impact on numbers within the Department. This is a matter which will now have to be taken into account by the Department of Education and Skills.

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