Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of personnel recruited from outside of the Irish Foreign Service; the number recruited from elsewhere in the public service in the past three years; and the number expected to be recruited in 2007, from within the public service, and from outside, for employment in his Department in general and for deployment for positions in Irish Aid in particular. [18651/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs has recruited a total of 246 staff in the past three years.

The following table sets outs the number of staff recruited by the Department over this period. A significant number of the staff were recruited to fill new posts sanctioned by the Department of Finance for the three Passport Offices and for Irish Aid. In addition, vacancies needed to be filled as a result of staff leaving the Department on retirement, career break, transfer and promotion.

The figures in the above table do not include Temporary Clerical Officers who are recruited each year on fixed term contracts for the peak season in the Passport Offices in Dublin, Balbriggan and Cork. Nor do they include interns recruited on short term contracts for the purpose of work experience, as well as short term replacements for staff who avail of term time for the summer school holiday period.

During 2007, the Department continues to recruit staff, mainly through the Central Applications Facility, to fill positions in Irish Aid which is in the process of decentralising to Limerick. The public recruitment campaign for Junior Diplomat (Third Secretary) is also underway at present and the Department expects to make the first appointments from this competition in the early autumn. In addition, the Department is in the process of recruiting additional staff for its Evaluation and Audit Unit.