Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Finance the systems his Department has in place for tracking absences from work for various reasons, for benchmarking them against best standards and for estimating the cost of cover or lost input as a result of these absences; and if he will present data for the most recent years on this matter. [39177/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department uses the PeopleSoft Human Resource Management System (HRMS) to facilitate the collation of information relating to a wide range of absences from duty e.g. sick leave, annual leave, special leave, maternity leave and other statutory and non-statutory leave provisions. That information is used for internal staff management purposes. The identification of suitable groups against which it can be meaningfully benchmarked is currently being explored.

As in the case of all organisations, allowance is made for leave entitlements in determining overall staffing complements. There is no specific system in place in my Department to estimate the costs of lost input or cover which is only provided in exceptional cases. Accordingly, absences rarely give rise to direct additional costs. I would also like to refer the Deputy to my response to Questions 237 and 238 raised by Deputy Leo Varadkar on 21 October 2008 which addressed the matter of sick leave absence levels in my Department and offices under its aegis.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of staff employed in her Department whose function it is to deal with representations from her constituency; the number of these staff that are located in the constituency and in her Department; the grade and remuneration at which these staff are employed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38960/08]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of staff employed by Ministers of State in his Department whose function it is to deal with representations from the Ministers of States' constituency; the number of these staff that are located in the constituency and in his Department; the grade and remuneration at which these staff are employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38974/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 120 together.

The following table details the number of staff employed in my constituency office and those of the Ministers of State in my Department. The table gives a breakdown of the number of staff located in Hawkins House and each of the individual constituency offices.

All of the staff employed in Constituency Offices, both in Hawkins House and in regional offices are responsible for dealing with representations submitted by constituents. However, the Deputy should note that staff employed in the Ministers' Private Offices deal with all health related representations, including those that originate in their constituencies.