Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 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. [44370/12]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 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. [45613/12]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 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. [45628/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 285, 296 and 297 together.

There are currently 39 staff of my Department availing of a Career Break Scheme, five of whom are currently on the Special Incentive Career Break Scheme, these are categorised by grade as follows:

Staff on career break are treated as a reduction to the overall numbers employed in the Department in accordance with the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotions in the Public Service, none of the vacancies created as a result of these career breaks have been filled using temporary staff.

The standard career break scheme creates no additional expense for the Department. However, the terms of the three year Special Incentive Career Break Scheme, which commenced during the second half of 2009, are such that they involve additional costs to all Departments. These costs are more than offset by savings in salaries and employers’ PRSI.

Special Incentive Career Break Scheme

Since its commencement, 30 staff from my Department availed of the Special Incentive Career Break Scheme. The cost to the Department per year was as follows:

Estimated saving in respect of Incentivised Career Breaks are as follows:

* These figures are notional as no employer contributions were paid for the duration of the scheme and are based on 2009 contribution payments extrapolated forward for 2010, 2011 to end September 2012.

To date, nine staff have applied for an extension of their career break, under normal terms and conditions and at no additional cost, therefore, to the Department. A further five staff remain on the scheme and have the option to extend their break (again, at no additional cost to the Department). It is not possible at this point to provide figures in relation to the cost associated with staff resuming duty in 2013 as staff are required to serve a waiting period of up to 12 months before being reinstated, and some or all of the remaining staff may be redeployed to other Departments before their waiting period expires.

In relation to the agencies under the auspices of my Department, the granting of career breaks is an operational matter for the agencies concerned and I have asked them to respond directly to the Deputy.

Compilations of statistics on career breaks across the Public Service as a whole and issues relating to reforms which have taken place are a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which has central responsibility for the Career Break Scheme.