Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which the target of reducing public service employment has been achieved. [38966/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The target of reducing public service employment was announced in December 2002. To take an overview, the policy has succeeded in cutting back radically on the rapid rise in public service employment in the period 1997 to 2002. From 1997 to 2001 there had been an increase of almost 43,000, or 19%, in the number of public service employees. Since the introduction of the policy in December 2002, the increase has been of the order of 5,500 or less than 2%. This has taken place at a time of significant increases both in employment in the economy generally and in the population, with the corresponding increased demand for public services.

Numbers employed in the health and education sectors have increased by just under 9,000 over the 2002 baseline. Numbers employed in the other sectors — the Civil Service, defence, local authority and non-commercial State-sponsored sectors — have been reduced by 3,500. In fact, by the end of September 2005, the targets for these groups had been exceeded.

I fully accept that original targets in the health and education sectors have not been met. The Government has been prepared to increase numbers to meet priority needs in frontline and essential services. The employment of additional frontline staff has, for example, been approved for new health units and additional disability posts in the health sector, special needs teachers in the education system and to increase the number of gardaí. This is in line with the approach stated when the policy was launched.

Total employment in the public service by the end of 2005 will be close to 290,000. The Government will continue to control and regulate numbers in the public service within agreed ceilings. I am allowing limited increases in staff in some key non-administrative areas particularly in health, education and the Garda to improve the delivery of important frontline services to the public. The success of our earlier policy tells me that this is the correct strategy to follow.

The numbers involved are as follows: Civil Service — non-industrials and industrials — 37,700; non-commercial State-sponsored bodies — 9,600; local authorities — 33,300; Defence Forces — 11,400; Garda Síochána — 14,000; education — to be agreed bilaterally; health — to be agreed bilaterally.