Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of staff in her Department; if that number has decreased; if the moratorium has been applied in the case of any Department staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34680/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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There were 470.91 whole time equivalents employed in my Department at the end of August 2010. Serving numbers are collated at the end of each month and the September 2010 figures are not yet available. The end August figure represents a reduction of 121 (20%) over the number employed at the end of December 2007. Staffing levels will need to be reduced by a further 20 whole time equivalents in order to meet the agreed Employment Control Framework target of 450 by the end of 2012.

Generally speaking vacancies generated as a result of people leaving the Department have been managed through re-organisation and re-allocation of work among remaining staff. My Department has applied for 3 exemptions to the moratorium which were considered critical to the operation of the Department. All three applications were approved by the Minister for Finance. These posts were:

Director General position at the Office of the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs,

Youth Work Assessor at the Office of the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, and

Chief Executive Officer for the Adoption Authority.