Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the staffing shortage in the third level sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9164/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The reality of the economic situation and the public expenditure corrections which continue to be required present challenges across all areas of public expenditure. It must be acknowledged that the higher education sector has accommodated significant increases in students numbers at a time when both funding and staff numbers have reduced. The economic circumstances of the country are such that the staffing moratorium introduced across the public sector by the previous Government in 2009 has to be maintained. In contrast to other parts of the public service the higher education sector has been given significant latitude within this moratorium relative to other areas of public expenditure. An Employment Control Framework is in place for the higher education sector which provides institutions with considerable flexibility to fill vacancies, through recruitment or promotions on the basis of meeting an overall ceiling of posts.