Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will recall that as part of a package of measures presented in the budget in October, I announced an end to the staffing moratorium in the public service. This was made possible by the much welcomed improvement in the public finances last year, which, thankfully, is continuing this year. I considered it appropriate to have a more normalised approach to the management of public service staffing, allowing front-line managers freedom to respond to service needs as they arise.

My Department is currently engaging with all Departments to put in place the necessary administrative and oversight structures and controls that will govern the new arrangements. These will be formalised under delegated sanction which I will soon issue.

The delegated sanction will give Departments greater flexibility in managing staffing resources, including recruitment and promotion. This will be subject to staying within overall pay bill ceilings and it will require a commitment to deliver efficiency and reform objectives we have agreed. The ending of the moratorium does not signal across the board freedom for hiring and recruiting. I do not want to give that illusion. There will still be strict controls - there has to be. We must contain the cost of delivering public services at affordable and sustainable levels. The new approach will do this but it will also allow public services to respond and adapt more quickly to emerging needs.

The Deputy mentioned staffing issues in the area of social workers, in particular. This is not related to the moratorium. Staffing vacancies arise for various reasons and are a normal part of employment but it is fair to say that child protection and welfare is a particularly challenging area of work and involves working closely with some very vulnerable and marginalised people. These challenges mean that recruitment and retention in this area is a key issue across most countries and not only in Ireland. Tusla, the new Child and Family Agency, is currently progressing a number of initiatives to address staff shortage issues. Most importantly, it is continuing to recruit, with 164 social workers recruited since the agency was established and a further 219 social workers being recruited currently.

The Deputy will be aware that during the moratorium, this Government continued to prioritise and make provision for targeted recruitment in key front-line areas. I will not give the figures again but the Deputy knows what I have done in regard to resource teachers and so on.

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