Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I have circulated with the reply a table outlining the breakdown of full-time equivalent staffing levels in my Department at the end of October 2010. I will recite the numbers. The Department staff consists of one Secretary General; one Secretary General on the public service side; three second secretaries; 12 assistant secretaries; 50.1 principal officers; 128.95 assistant principal officers; 51 administrative officers; 81.39 higher executive officers; 50.2 executive officers; 26.63 staff officers; 97.83 clerical officers; 23 service officers; two service attendants; one chief medical officer; one deputy chief medical officer; two physicians; three nurses and 6.66 teachers. This makes a grand total of 541.76 whole-time equivalents.

I am happy to tell the Deputy I am very satisfied with the performance of my Department, particularly in light of the extraordinary demands placed on it in the period since I came to office. During this time there have been significant challenges to meet in terms of attempting to stabilise the country's finances, to restore confidence in its banking system and to ensure that the country can re-establish its competitiveness.

My Department has recently retained the services of a number of staff with economic expertise to advise on economic policy issues and the changes within the structure of the Department that have been made have demonstrated the flexibility of the Department to deal with particular challenges faced by it in challenging and changing economic circumstances.

I am deeply appreciative of the professionalism and dedication of the staff at my Department in the very demanding circumstances we have faced, and are still facing, in the context of the difficult decisions this Government had to take and which and future Governments will have to take.

As the Deputy is aware, my Department is the subject of an independent review process which will presumably have implications for the structure of the Department and its skill base, and which I hope will report before the end of the year. The independent review group will undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the systems, structures and processes of the Department of Finance relating to those elements of budgetary, economic, financial and public service management relevant to its role.

See this speech in context