Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 653: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of staff in his Department, broken down by division and section, annually since 2007 to date in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2172/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The overall numbers of whole-time equivalent staff serving in my Department and agencies staffed by it at the beginning of each of the years 2007 to 2010 are set out in the following table. For the sake of completeness, I should add that these figures do not include bodies in the wider Justice sector which recruit their own staff such as the Courts Service, Garda Síochána, Garda Ombudsman Commission, Legal Aid Board, Property Registration Authority and non-administrative staff in the Irish Prisons Service.

The above figures comprise staff across numerous Divisions, agencies and other areas of the Department (there are over 30 Divisions within Head Office alone), which are in turn often broken down into further numerous sections. These Divisions, agencies and executive offices of the Department are also based in a wide number of locations, across Dublin and in the regions. The Probation Service, for instance, has offices spread throughout the country. Moreover, on foot of the most recent decentralisation programme, 8 Departmental offices have been established in 6 new regional locations. Staffing numbers, on the disaggregated basis sought by the Deputy, are not readily available, nor are they available in this respect on a historical basis. Finally, I should also add that the structure of the Department is constantly changing and evolving in order to meet new challenges and priorities, making staffing breakdowns incompatible across different periods.