Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Question 296: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will contact the Industrial Development Agency regarding the staffing position in Dundalk; if he will ensure that all vacancies are filled and that there is sufficient level of staff to deal with industrial development in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18208/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The staffing levels in IDA's various offices is a day to day operational matter for the Agency and not one in which I have a function. In the context of scarce resources and a reduction in staff numbers IDA has maximized efficiency and increased the organisation's focus on business generation and client facing activities.

IDA has said that the overall staff number available to it in 2011 is sufficient to allow it to implement its current strategy in the period to 2014.

I have every confidence in the abilities of IDA's Board and senior management team to manage the resources available to it so as to enable the Agency to continue to win FDI for this country even in the face of the most difficult economic circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the outsourcing of administrative tasks by State bodies and agencies to other countries; his further views that this is a counter-productive practice in terms of job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18243/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Outsourcing – or the contracting out of services to an external provider – is a well established business model for the streamlining of functions and services within an organisation. As the Deputy knows, under this model, those processes that can be performed better or with less cost by an external service provider are identified and competitive tenders are sought for delivering the required services. This principle applies both to the public and the private sector. The internal market for goods and services within the EU - and the wider globalised economy - of course holds open the possibility of goods and services being provided from outside the jurisdiction. Equally, this presents opportunities for Irish-based companies to provide goods and services to customers abroad, e.g. the Irish Financial Services Centre.

Within the public sector at present, there are a number of expenditure and strategic reviews under way which are aimed at identifying the core services that each organisation should be delivering and at optimising resources to ensure that these services are delivered with greater efficiency and effectiveness and with a more focused customer orientation. These are designed, in the context of the Croke Park Agreement, to result in a public sector that is optimised for delivery of outcomes and value for money.

There is no predetermined or ideological position within the Government on outsourcing of functions currently undertaken within the public service. I would expect that any decision to outsource Government administrative functions would take account of the best economic return to the Exchequer, taking account of a wide range of factors, including the nature of the work being outsourced and the value to be obtained from the competitive tendering competitions for those services.