James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the staff increases within public services, which are in addition to existing policy, planned in the programme for Government; and the cost of pay, the ancillary costs of their deployment and the ancillary capital costs in respect of each category. [17329/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has, over the last number of years, followed a policy under which growth in public service employment has slowed overall. The Government will continue to control and regulate numbers employed in the public service within agreed ceilings. The number employed is kept under constant review given the importance of striking an appropriate balance between the need, on the one hand, to provide resources to improve front-line services and cater for demographic pressures and the need, on the other, to control and regulate overall numbers in the context of providing value for money for the public expenditure involved.

This strategy will govern decisions about staffing issues arising from the implementation of the Programme for Government which will be taken in the context of the annual estimates process having regard to the Government's budgetary policy as set out in the Programme.