Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Finance if he has received any correspondence from FÁS or from a council (detail supplied) seeking an exemption from the public service recruitment embargo in order to allow the local authority in question to recruit staff to supervise FÁS work placement and training programmes; if such a request has been received; his views on same; if not, when he will issue a response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4455/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There is no record of any correspondence from FÁS or from the Council mentioned by the Deputy having been received in my office in recent times with regard to the recruitment of staff to supervise FÁS work placement and training programmes.

As the Deputy is aware there is a moratorium in force in relation to recruitment and promotion in the public service. While I have authority from the Government to grant exceptions in respect of the filling of particular posts, this arises only in very exceptional circumstances and only when all other options (such as the reassignment of responsibilities or redeployment) have been exhausted. In the first instance, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government oversees the implementation of the moratorium in the local authority sector.