Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of staff in her Department or agencies under her control that are currently on career break; the number of staff currently hired temporarily to cover those on career break; if she will provide a breakdown of the numbers by grade and agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44373/12]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection 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 she will make a statement on the matter. [45615/12]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of staff across the public service that are currently on a career break; if she 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 she will make a statement on the matter. [45630/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 310, 375 and 376 together.

There are currently 91 staff of my Department availing of career breaks, including career breaks which were granted under the special incentivised career break scheme 2009. A breakdown by grade is as follows:

A total of 54 staff in the Department availed of the special incentivised career break scheme in 2009. The cost of the incentivised career break scheme for 2011 (i.e. the amount paid to the staff who availed of the scheme) was €570,837. The resulting savings on the pay bill in 2011 was just under €1.9 million. A total of 19 of the 54 staff have opted to extend their career breaks beyond the 3 years provided for by the scheme. No remuneration is provided for staff who extend their career breaks beyond the 3 years provided for in the scheme.

An estimated cost for the return in 2013 of all of the civil servants who availed of incentivised career breaks is unavailable, as the returning salary in each case would have to be calculated on an individual basis on the officer’s return and, as indicated above, some officers have confirmed an extension to their career break on an unpaid basis beyond 2013. Officers that have availed of any form of career break retain the option to extend their career breaks for periods up to 5 years in total.

The statutory agencies that operate under the aegis of my Department are the Pensions Board and the Citizens Information Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department. In relation to the Pensions Board there is currently one member of staff, a Higher Executive Officer, on a career break. A temporary Clerical Officer was hired to cover this career break and that this arrangement will cease with effect from 19 October 2012. In the Citizens Information Board there is currently one staff member, a grade IV, on a career break. There was no temporary cover provided for this career break. None of the staff in the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman are on career break. Vacancies arising from staff availing of career breaks are regarded as permanent vacancies, and as such, if the vacancies are approved to be filled, they are filled by the assignment of permanent staff. These vacancies count towards the reduction in numbers in the Department. There have been no reforms introduced to the operation of the career break scheme in my Department in the last year.