Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 307: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to recruit graduates into his Department this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24941/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As part of my Department's ongoing and long term workforce planning needs, measures such as targeted graduate recruitment is seen as important and necessary.

A specialist Administrative Officer "AO" graduate recruitment campaign was launched by my Department at the end of January 2012 that will provide a pool of expertise for use across the civil service to support strategic policy development. The intention is that requests for AO's from the resulting specialist panels will be considered in the context of Workforce Action Plans. Various reports have identified the need for Departments to bolster their specialist skills in areas such as ICT, human resources, project management, accountancy and economics. This initiative will help to address the gaps in economic expertise and policy analysis capability across the civil service.

In total, my Department expects to recruit 29 graduates this year. Seventeen will be Economists assigned to the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES). It is expected that these graduates will be brought in from June onwards this year and eight will spend a training period in my Department before being seconded to other Departments with identified needs.

The remaining 12 graduates will be recruited with regard to the areas of expertise required.