Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plan for voluntary redundancies in the public sector; his further plans to ensure that senior critical persons do not retire; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36229/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that significant progress is being made in reducing the numbers employed in the Public Service. The numbers working in the public service have continued to fall, with the provisional outturn for Quarter 1 2012 standing at 292,000. This is 28,000 below the peak numbers level of 320,000 in 2008.

However, in order to reach the Government's numbers target of 282,500 by 2015 all Departments/Offices have been requested to look at radically different models of public service delivery, as set out in the Government's Reform Agenda. Departments/Offices will also have to critically examine the priority services that will be required in the future. Schemes, programmes and bodies which can be radically altered, curtailed or eliminated entirely should be identified.

We are considering a range of measures including the potential use of targeted exit mechanism schemes such as voluntary redundancy in instances where staff surpluses are identified. In the event of voluntary redundancy being introduced, the terms of the Collective agreement on redundancy payments to Public Servants would apply. These terms are similar to those offered in the recent past to staff in the HSE and Teagasc. It is important to make clear that voluntary redundancy is not a right and it would be a matter for the Minister and senior management of each Department/Office to select suitable candidates, grades, locations or skills for either inclusion or exclusion from a proposed scheme.

Finally, in relation to the Deputy's query about retirements, it should be noted that it is part of the day to day function of the Boards and Management of all public bodies to assess, budget and plan within existing resources for current and ongoing staffing requirements, including retirements. Staff cannot be prohibited from retiring once they have reached pensionable age.