Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 235: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce an embargo on the filling of vacancies in Government Departments at executive officer level; if so, when this embargo will commence; and if an embargo is imposed, if he will instruct the Public Service Appointments Commission to extend the life of existing panels of staff awaiting promotion to executive officer until those panels have been emptied. [35761/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I refer the Deputy to my Budget Statement of last Tuesday, 14 October 2008, where I stated that in regard to public service pay and numbers, we must do more with less:

"In this context, the Government has decided to conduct a focused review of public sector numbers in all branches of Government to assess whether the resources are being fully deployed in an efficient and effective manner and what economies can be made. This decision will be implemented in November when the report of the Task Force on the Public Service [established by the Taoiseach] is received."