Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Finance if the public service embargo will be relaxed in order to recruit either temporary or permanent specialist staff in the context of decentralisation; if so, if limits have been set; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31457/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that while there is no public service embargo in place, the Government has followed a targeted numbers policy since December 2002. Under this policy the growth in public sector employment has slowed substantially overall and has been reversed in several areas.

I have indicated previously that duplication of professional and technical staff is not proposed in the context of decentralisation. This remains the position. The Government will continue to control and regulate numbers in the public service within agreed ceilings and organisations can, of course, recruit staff within their agreed ceiling.