Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 43: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of retired civil or public servants that have been rehired by his Department since March 2012; their positions and accompanying salaries. [36749/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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One official who retired from my Department on 29 February 2012 has been temporarily re-engaged in order to assist with the Department's activities in the lead-up to and during Ireland's Presidency of the EU from January to June 2013. The contract of employment in this case provides for attendance on a part-time basis from 1 May until 31 July 2012 and on a fulltime basis from 1 September 2012 until 30 June 2013 when it will be terminated. This officer was re-engaged on a pension abatement basis which means in effect that he continues to receive his pension and is paid a correspondingly reduced salary by the Department. This temporary recruitment arrangement is in line with a Government Decision of 16 December 2011 relating to Presidency matters, including staffing arrangements. The policy of my Department regarding the re-hiring of retired officials is to do so to the minimum extent possible. However, for certain once-off or short-duration projects it is more productive and cost-effective to re-hire retired staff who already have the relevant expertise and experience than to go through a time-consuming and relatively expensive recruitment, induction and training process.