Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Transport the number of staff allowed to be hired by his Department; if the Department of Finance has communicated concerns over staffing policy in his Department; if his Department has complained to the Department of Finance regarding finance to fill vacancies in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47314/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has been discussing with the Department of Finance the application of measures announced by the Minister for Finance in the recent budget to reduce payroll costs across the public service. As part of these discussions this Department has identified a number of priority vacancies which it considers essential to fill at this time, and the two Departments are currently exploring how these can be accommodated within the context of achieving a payroll reduction in 2009.