Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Transport the number of departmental staff in each of the years since the creation of his Department and the number at present; the staff cost in each of those years and at present; the number who have transferred to outside agencies, authorities, or other transport bodies that come under his Department's remit in each of those years; and the savings in staff costs in his Department that have been made since the creation of the Road Safety Authority, the Taxi Commission, the Railway Safety Commission and so on. [41643/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The table outlines the number of Departmental staff and the staff cost in each of the years since the creation of my Department.

As the Department was established in mid 2002, the numbers shown for that year include posts from the then Department of Public Enterprise that were subsequently transferred to the Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR).

Furthermore, the staff number shown for 2006 includes both additional staff from DCMNR following the transfer of responsibility for shipping and ports matters to my Department on 1st January last as well as posts that are in the course of being transferred to the recently established Road Safety Authority. The staff of the Road Safety Authority are currently being paid by the Department of Transport and this arrangement will continue until early 2007.

It is not possible to identify any staff members who may have resigned from the Department to take up positions in outside agencies, authorities, or other transport bodies that come under this Department's remit. The staff that I am aware of who are on secondment to one of these such bodies include two Assistant Principals who are currently employed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation. The cost for staff on secondment to the Railway Safety Commission for the 2006 period to date is €445,083. All staff in the Taxi Regulator's office were recruited directly by that office.

Generally speaking, staff working in bodies other than the RSA are in respect of new or expanded functions and therefore did not allow for specific savings in staff numbers in my Department.