Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Since 2008, in response to the financial crisis, local authorities have reduced staff numbers by a quarter or 9,129 whole time equivalents. The public service moratorium was introduced in 2009 and my Department operates a delegated sanction, from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, for implementation of the moratorium in relation to local authorities. All exceptions to the moratorium require prior sanction from my Department.

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each City and County Manager is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible.  In this regard, it is a matter for City and County Managers, in the first instance, to ensure that the moratorium is implemented while the appropriate service levels are maintained. All exceptions to the moratorium, including acting-up arrangements, should only arise in exceptional circumstances, for example to fill a statutory, health and safety or other key service requirement. Acting-up arrangements of less than 4 months do not attract an acting-up allowance and do not require individual sanction from my Department. Sanction is required for acting arrangements over 4 months. Given the significant staffing reductions in the sector some exceptions to the moratorium are required and acting-up arrangements have been utilised to fill vacancies. It is accepted that long term acting-up arrangements are not desirable a s these should only arise as a short term response to particular business needs.

To support the sector in effectively managing the combination of staff reductions and the reform/change programme a Workforce Study was undertaken jointly by local authorities and my Department. In particular, the study assessed the management requirements of local authorities bearing in mind the potential impacts of shared services and other reform initiatives underway. Work force planning is an iterative process and each local authority has been engaged in work force planning at local level. In this context, local authorities have been requested to prepare proposals to deal with any long term acting-up arrangements in the context of local work force plans to be submitted later this year. In this regard, it is not envisaged that there would be any automatic appointments but rather any posts that local authorities seek to fill would need to be agreed with my Department and would be filled on the normal competitive basis under the usual sanction process.