Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together.

There were 211.5 whole-time-equivalent staff working in my Department on 31 December 2018. That compares to a figure of 203.5 whole-time-equivalent staff on 31 December 2017.

My Department is structured around seven main work areas. The breakdown of posts currently in each of these areas is as follows: there are 28 posts in the international, EU and Northern Ireland division, including responsibility on Brexit matters; 26 posts in the economic division; 27 posts in the Government secretariat, protocol and general division and the parliamentary liaison unit; 21 posts in the social policy and public service reform division; 35 posts in the corporate affairs division; and eight posts in the information and records management unit. The remainder of posts in my Department include services staff and those in the private offices, constituency offices and internal audit.

While the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has overall responsibility for Brexit, in recent months my Department established a small unit to assist with Brexit preparedness and contingency planning to augment the ongoing work of my Department's international, EU and Northern Ireland division. The unit has a current staffing complement of six. The existing responsibilities of the international, EU and Northern Ireland division with regard to Brexit are unchanged.

My Department uses workforce planning and succession planning to ensure that there are sufficient staffing resources in place to deliver the Department's strategic goals. With the exception of politically appointed staff, staff assignments in my Department are the responsibility of the Secretary General and the senior management team of the Department.

The information requested regarding numbers of staff in my Department by grade and gender is set out in tabular format. The majority of senior management staff at assistant principal and principal officer level in my Department are female. Female officers at principal officer level currently hold the posts of head of section or division in the economic division, the Britain and Northern Ireland Affairs section, the EU section, the protocol and general division, the social policy and public service reform division, and the Government Information Service.

Since 2017 female representation at assistant secretary or director level on my Department's management committee has increased from 29% female to 40%.

Table 1: Department of the Taoiseach Staff by Grade and Gender- 31 December 2018*

Grade	Total No.	% Male	% Female
Secretary General	1	100%
Second Secretary General	1	100%
Assistant Secretary	5	60%	40%
Principal Officer	15	47%	53%
Assistant Principal Officer	40	32%	68%
Higher Executive Officer	34	26%	74%
Administrative Officer	16	31%	69%
Executive Officer	37	19%	81%
Clerical Officer	37	43%	57%
Services Staff	18	67%	33%
Total	204	37%	63%

*excludes politically appointed staff

Table 2: Department of the Taoiseach Staff by Grade and Gender- 31 December 2017*

Grade	Total No.	% Male	% Female
Secretary General	1	100%
Second Secretary General	1	100%
Assistant Secretary	7	71%	29%
Principal Officer	13	46%	54%
Assistant Principal Officer	36	42%	58%
Higher Executive Officer	31	26%	74%
Administrative Officer	19	37%	63%
Executive Officer	32	22%	78%
Clerical Officer	42	31%	69%
Services Staff	18	67%	33%
Total	200	37%	63%

*excludes politically appointed staff.

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