Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of new posts established in his Department or agencies under the aegis of his Department; the number of staff in his Department that have been promoted or awarded allowances of any description since the introduction by him of the moratorium on public service numbers; the objective justification for each of these new posts; the promotions and a list of the duties covered by the posts and promotions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19558/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The following is the information requested in relation to my Department and information supplied by the Offices under the aegis of my Department.

In all cases duties are as determined by the Head of Department/Office.

Finance

As a result of a re-organisation at Principal level in my Department in November last year, following a number of retirements from key posts in the Department, I sanctioned the filling of 4 Principal level posts through internal promotion, as we had a number of unsuccessful attempts to have them filled through redeployment from elsewhere in the civil service. The number of agreed Principal level posts has been reduced to 52, and the number currently serving is below that. Overall, numbers across all grades within my Department have fallen from 608.61 at the date the moratorium was announced (27 March 2009), to 551.88 today. Revenue

Last December I sanctioned the filling of up to 200 posts across all grade levels in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in recognition of the importance of the Office's role and the significant reduction in its staff numbers during 2009. The filling of these posts is within the numbers ceiling set for the Revenue Commissioners under the Employment Control Framework and salary costs will be met from within the agreed administrative budget. These posts are being filled through a combination of redeployment, promotion and open recruitment. To-date 24 staff have being redeployed from other Departments, 8 internal promotions have taken place and a total of 15 staff has been recruited by way of open competitions. One higher duty allowance was awarded to cover the vacant position of Head Service Officer and 77 enforcement allowance posts have been filled to maintain the complement of staff in this critical area of Revenue's business.

In addition, as part of the final phases of agreements with staff unions in the context of the restructuring of Revenue and the restructuring of Information and Communications Technology over the period 2003 to 2007, Revenue made a further 42 internal promotions since the introduction of the moratorium. Valuation Office

4 of the promotions were for Technical staff involved in GIS work and had been negotiated prior to the Moratorium. They formed part of an agreed package for modernisation and change in the organisation which includes staffing cuts. The cost benefit to the organisation is substantial over the next ten years. One promotion was a replacement for a retiree to a position, the filling of which was vital to ensuring that statutory deadlines were met.

18 Higher Duty Allowance posts were converted to substantive posts in October 2009 to reflect the ongoing nature of the Revaluation project. These conversions related to posts which had been filled on an allowance basis for up to five years and the promotions were cost neutral to the exchequer. C&AG

6 promotions to Auditor were awarded to trainee auditors who are qualified accountants after 4 years satisfactory service as per the terms on their contract of employment. Office of Public Works

To fill a vacancy at Chairman (Secretary General level) and consequential Commissioner (Assistant Secretary level) to enable OPW to effectively deliver on the current demands for its services made by Government, other Departments and their agencies and the public.