Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of full time and part time positions in his Department and in County Donegal County Council that are temporarily and permanently vacant due to the public sector recruitment embargo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43659/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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By the end of 2009 my Department will have approximately 150 fewer staff than in January 2009. This is arising from the moratorium on recruitment and the uptake of the Incentivised Career Break and Incentivised Early Retirement Schemes. In the context of the current Government policy on public sector staffing numbers, my Department is engaging with the Department of Finance in order to agree a revised staffing complement for this Department.

In regard to the Local Authorities, my Department has a delegated sanction from the Department of Finance for implementation of the general moratorium on the filling of public sector posts in the Local Authority Sector, on the condition that the overall staffing levels in the local authority sector are to be reduced significantly by the end of 2010 in adherence with the Government's Policy on Staffing and Numbers in the Public Sector. Under the new arrangements which issued to the local authority sector on 20 August 2009, Local Authorities are expected, where vacancies arise, to consider options for reorganisation and reallocation of work to meet requirements. Any exceptions to this principle, which will arise in very limited circumstances, require sanction from my Department. The number of local authority positions that have become temporarily and permanently vacant in the local authority sector is not held by my Department.