Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an update on the setting up and work to date of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service as announced by him earlier this year. [28250/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government decided in March this year to set up the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES). The work of the Service will support Departments in evaluating policy and expenditure options; value for money exercises; cost benefit and regulatory impact analyses; and regulatory and competition issues. Candidates with postgraduate economic qualifications were targeted through an Administrative Officer (Economist) competition run by the Public Appointments Service earlier this year. Some 27 staff recruited initially under the competition are due to take up placements in the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform, the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Finance over the coming weeks, as well as in a number of other Departments. These recruits will supplement the existing economic and evaluation expertise already within the public service, including the Central Expenditure Evaluation Unit within my Department. After a period of training and development, some of these recruits will be seconded to other Departments with identified economic analysis needs.