Written answers
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Public Sector Staff Career Breaks
Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of staff in his Department or agencies under his control that are currently on career break; the number of staff currently hired temporarily to cover those on career break; if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers by grade and agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44360/12]
Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of staff that availed of the special civil service incentive career break scheme 2009; the cost of the scheme since its introduction; the savings on the pay bill in that time period; the estimated full year cost for the return of all the new civil servants in 2013; the number of staff members that applied for a further extension of their leave; if these staff were counted as a reduction in numbers employed in the public service during that time period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45603/12]
Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of staff across the public service that are currently on a career break; if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers on career leave by Department and agency; the estimated cost of this scheme per year; the number of staff currently hired temporarily to cover those on career break; the reforms that have taken place in this general area in the past year; if these staff were counted as a reduction in numbers employed in the public service during that time period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45618/12]
Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 520, 558 and 559 together.
There are two career break schemes currently in operation in my Department –
- Special Leave Without Pay for a Career Break as provided for in Circular 18/1998 and
- Special Civil Service Incentive Career Break Scheme 2009 as provided for in Circular 13/2009.
In all some 89 staff of my Department are currently on career break. The grades in question and the scheme they have availed of are set out in a table.
| Grade | Career Break 18/1998 | Incentivised Career Break 13/2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Clerical Officer | 25 | 21 |
| Staff Officer | 1 | 1 |
| Executive Officer | 5 | 8 |
| Higher Executive Officer | 2 | 2 |
| Assistant Principal Officer | 2 | |
| Principal Officer | 1 | |
| Visually Impaired Telephonist | 1 | |
| Technical Agricultural Officers | 2 | |
| Assistant Agricultural Inspector | 3 | 1 |
| Agricultural Inspector | 3 | |
| Engineer Grade 3 | 1 | |
| Laboratory Analyst | 2 | 1 |
| Senior Laboratory Technician | 1 | |
| Serological Assistant | 3 | |
| Veterinary Inspector | 3 | |
Total | 55 | 34 |
The total cost of the incentivised scheme to date is €1,489,210 and the pay savings achieved to date are €4,049,811. The estimated full year salary cost of a return to work of all 34 staff on the incentivised scheme would be just in excess of €1m.
In all, 53 staff availed of the incentivised career break scheme, 12 of whom have sought to extend their career break in accordance with the terms of the standard scheme. My Department has not hired any staff on a temporary basis to cover those on career break. Staff on career break are not included in my Department’s staffing numbers.
The operation of career break schemes in the agencies under the aegis of my Department is a matter for the agencies themselves.
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