Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The number of staff, in my Department, who retired, left or otherwise departed from their employment from 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2013 and the number to-date in 2014 are set out in the following table.

-	2013	2014
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform	15	20
Shared Services	9	20
Office of Government Procurement	1	2

The following table reflects the number of staff who will be over 60 in 2015 and 2016 and may be in a position to retire. 

-	2015/2016
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform	25
Shared Services	19
Office of Government Procurement	4

There are of course likely to be other exits from my Department in 2015-16 as staff decide to pursue other opportunities that may arise.  Although difficult to accurately estimate, as the economy improves, it can be expected staff may leave for reasons other than retirement.  Payroll savings arising from staff exits were incorporated into the budgetary arithmetic in 2013 and 2014, and any future savings arising in 2015 and 2016 will similarly be reflected in the Vote allocations in the context of the overall Estimates process.

Alongside the implementation of the various measures and reforms provided for in the Haddington Road Agreement, staff exits are a contributing factor in helping my Department to meet its paybill objectives and, in so doing, contribute to the achievement of the Government's overall fiscal and public service numbers targets.