Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the degree to which extra staff will continue to be made available to her Department with the objective of catering for increased demand arising from the downturn in the economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44871/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In the period since May 2008, 1,056 staff have been assigned to my Department to fill critical vacancies and additional posts that were approved to deal with the increased volume of claims due to the downturn in the economy. The majority of these staff have been sourced through the redeployment and transfer of staff from other Government Departments.

In addition, in order to begin the roll out of the Public Services Card on a nationwide basis, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform gave sanction to the Department for the provision of up to 150 additional clerical officer posts. The sanction is subject to resources being sourced from redeployment panels in the first instance, and where resources are not available from that source, the temporary recruitment of temporary clerical officers through the Public Appointments Service

The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, having regard to workloads, management priorities and the competing demands arising, with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department. I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to source staff to fill critical vacancies by way of redeployment, taking account of the Employment Control Framework target, as determined by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.