Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Deputy Martin is aware that there have been programmes over the years, involving every commentator in the land, about the bloated extent of the public service and the requirement to reduce overall numbers and, consequently, the cost of the public sector due to the impact down the line on pension payment requirements. Planning has been ongoing for quite a long time in this area. However, the situation in respect of the numbers leaving the public service at the end of February has not crystallised until recent days. While there has been quite a deal of intensive work across Departments, the figures did not become clear until very recently.

Given the age profile of public servants, it was assumed that up to 9,000 whole-time equivalent workers would retire by the end of February 2012. Provisional figures indicate that public service numbers fell to around 297,000 by the end of 2011 compared with the projected figure of 300,000. Latest figures indicate that 6,600 people plan to retire in January and February this year. The figures in the Department of Health go from September to the end of February. The expectation in the education sector is for 2,000 staff to retire while for the Civil Service it is 1,008 and in the health sector it is 2,263. There were 1,433 staff who went in 2011. Local authorities expect 859 staff to retire while 241 plan to retire from the Defence Forces and 297 from the Garda Síochána.

It is nothing new to have several thousand people leaving the public sector each year in the normal way. Given the figures we know by the end of February 2012, it is right and proper that the transition be managed in a proper fashion so that services are not diminished for people who actually need them. That is why there should be transitional teams in the five areas of health, education, local government, justice and defence, headed by assistant secretaries in each Department, and that this line of communication right down to local planners would have a clear understanding of how they propose to continue to provide services following these retirements.

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