Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of staff vacancies, by function, currently in the Central Bank of Ireland; the efforts that have been made to fill these posts; the reason they remain unfilled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23934/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Finance, I have no role in the employment of staff in the Central Bank. Under the Central Bank Act 1942, the Central Bank Commission is responsible for staffing matters in the Central Bank with a view to enabling the Central Bank to perform and exercise its functions and powers.

The Central Bank Commission approves the staffing plan for the Central Bank on an annual basis and this defines the resourcing needs across the organisation. The Central Bank adopts a thorough recruitment and selection process for all positions with a view to identifying potential candidates and selecting the most suitable candidate.

I have been informed by the Central Bank that it operates to a recruitment target of 10 weeks from the time a vacancy arises until a candidate is offered a job.  On average this process takes 7.4 weeks. There are currently 133 vacancies. 50 offers have been made for these 133 vacancies and 27 have so far been accepted by candidates. In the Regulation area there are currently 72 vacancies for which 34 offers have been made, in Central Banking 20 vacancies for which 6 offers have been made and in Operations 37 roles for which 10 offers have been made. The remaining 4 vacancies are at senior management level and in the Investor Compensation Company Ltd.

I have been further informed by the Central Bank that seven of the current vacancies will fall outside the target 10 week window, reflecting the difficulty of recruiting for some highly specialised roles.