Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of civil servants; the number of whom are not employed on a permanent basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4735/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Based on returns made to my Department for end September 2008 [the last date for which complete data are available] the number of serving non industrial civil servants was estimated to be 37,000 full time equivalents (fte). It is estimated that just over 1,000 staff (fte) — approximately 3% excluding staff serving in the Prisons Service — were not employed on a permanent basis. These staff are employed on a variety of tasks and assignments and their number fluctuates depending on factors such as seasonal variations (e.g. recruitment of temporary staff to cover term time vacancies, peak workloads such as passports, examinations, etc).