Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 414: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of labour inspectors that have been appointed to date in regard to his announcement of the recruitment of an additional 11; when the full number will be appointed; the current establishment level of the labour inspectorate; the number currently serving as labour inspectors; if any of the labour inspectorate staff are working in any other areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22056/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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On 12 April I announced my intention to appoint an additional ten labour inspectors together with a team leader. The team leader has been appointed and commenced training within the inspectorate. In addition, preparations are under way to facilitate the transfer of six officers to inspector posts following a competitive interview process. It is anticipated that these officers will be in place by mid-July. A further process has commenced with a view to urgently identifying officers to complete the complement of sanctioned staffing for the inspectorate.

As a result of the increase in resources, there are now 31 labour inspector posts. There are 21 officers currently assigned as inspectors of which 16.5 are serving at present. One inspector is currently on long-term sick leave and one jobsharing inspector is on extended unpaid leave. A further two inspectors are currently engaged in work with the Employment Appeals Tribunal to assist with processing a backlog of cases. One further inspector has recently been facilitated in regard to a long-standing request for a transfer from the labour inspectorate. This officer will be replaced from the current recruitment process mentioned above. However, it is also worth noting that of the serving officers, two of them are temporarily incapacitated as a consequence of accidents resulting in serious injury. Neither case was work related.

In the course of dealing with a recent high profile case, the services of three inspectors were exclusively dedicated to the task. There was also a very considerable input of time by two senior personnel from the employment rights compliance section. The breadth and complexity of the inspectorate's remit is such that officers' training occurs over an extended period of time. Much of this training is undertaken in the company of an experienced officer who will take time to explain the issues at hand and assist the trainee inspector in developing the skills and confidence necessary to take on the tasks alone. This activity does have a short-term impact on the capacity of the training officer to complete normal schedules of work. It should be noted that additional officers assigned to the inspectorate earlier this year are nearing completion of that training process. Up to quite recently the number of inspectors was 17. When the assignment of the new group of ten inspectors is complete, the labour inspectorate will have increased to 31, almost a doubling of its complement.