Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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91. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to request or allocate funding for additional full-time forensic accountants for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. [28676/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the Office of the Director, in common with the other Divisions and Offices of my Department, participated in a Departmental Workforce Planning exercise in 2012 and again in 2013. Notwithstanding the merits of the various submissions received, the moratorium on recruitment and the need to observe Employment Control Framework targets severely limit the capacity of my Department to respond, as requested. Staff assignments are made by reference to the priority needs of the Department and its offices as a whole.

The ODCE's revised workforce plan has specifically highlighted the centrality of accountancy skills as being fundamental to that Office's ability to deal with the more complex issues and investigations which it has been facing since the economic downturn. Despite the severe limitations referred to above, I am strongly supportive of the case made by the ODCE to rebalance its staff complement to increase the accountancy expertise available to the Office. I have recently written to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform requesting his assistance in expediting the necessary sanction from his Department to fill these important posts.