Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 64: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of full-time and part-time positions that remain vacant due to the public sector recruitment embargo; the pertinent public sector areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42416/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The monitoring and management of vacancies in any Public Service organisation employing Civil or Public Servants is a matter for the Government Department under whose aegis the organisation operates.

The moratorium applies to the filling of posts by recruitment and promotion and does not preclude in any way the reallocation or reorganisation of work or staff according to needs or, with my Department's approval, the filling of posts through redeployment from within the public service. It must also be remembered that changes in the services provided and in their delivery, in the allocation of work and in the use of information technology are taking place on an ongoing basis within Departments and agencies and can have a significant bearing on the allocation on of staff and responsibilities. Accordingly, vacancies in an organisation calculated solely on the basis of staff departures would not necessarily correspond with an actual need for staff at any particular time.

As regards the Department of Finance, the position is as follows. The total number of staff serving (whole-time equivalent) on 27 March 2009 (the date of issue of the Department of Finance letter advising Departments and Offices of the Moratorium on filling vacancies) was approximately 608.5. The number serving at 17 November 2009 was approximately 579.5. Prioritisation of resource allocation in my Department, including the management of vacancies, is carried out on an ongoing basis, taking account of the recommendations of the report of the special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes. The Department is currently engaged in a restructuring exercise as a consequence of a number of retirements, both under the incentivised scheme of early retirement (ISER) and normal retirements, along with other departures. This process is still ongoing.

Based on the latest information available to officials in my Department, the number of vacancies in each of the other Votes within the Finance Group is as follows:

Information is not yet available in respect of the Office of Public Works, and I have arranged for the relevant information to be communicated directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.