Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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76. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the meaning of his statement in the budget speech that Departments and agencies will now be able to manage their own staffing levels; if this means that they may employ staff at any level they require; that promotions will be on merit, that Departments will be able to create new posts without supervision or approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42428/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As I announced on Budget Day last month, I will seek to put in place new arrangements to replace the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotion in the Public Service from 2015 onwards.  This will be subject to the issuance of formal delegated sanction by my Department to all other Government Departments and Offices, in return for agreed commitments by them to manage staff resources within agreed pay ceilings and to meet ongoing reform and efficiency objectives.  Under the new arrangements, which my Department has begun to discuss in detail with the other Government Departments, sectoral managers will be incentivised to make further savings.  Where this is achieved  - for example, by recasting the grade mix or reassigning duties or introducing more efficient work practices - such savings can now be reinvested in expanding services to meet demand, including hiring more staff as appropriate. There will be restrictions and controls to prevent unwarranted grade drift and unsustainable recruitment, and of course recruitment will be carried by the Public Appointment Service, in the normal course of events.  Merit based recruitment and promotions are now the norm across the Public Service.

This change in policy is not about giving a blanket sanction for widespread recruitment or promotion across the Public Service, nor does it signal an end to the efficiency drive that has defined public service reform over the last few years.  Rather,  it is about giving those best placed - front-line managers -  a degree of freedom in management of staff resources to meet the demands which they face.  With this comes responsibility to make the right decisions, to continue to implement reform, and to continue to achieve efficiency gains.  That requirement will be reflected in the terms and conditions of sanction that are being finalised.