Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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235. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the amount of requests from Kildare County Council for more staff; and the areas they were for. [42651/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service was introduced in March 2009 in response to the financial crisis. My Department operates a delegated sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for implementation of the moratorium in relation to local authorities, and any exceptions to the moratorium in local authorities require sanction from my Department. Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements, including staffing assignments, necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible. In this regard, it is a matter for Chief Executives, in the first instance, to ensure that the moratorium is implemented while appropriate service levels are maintained.

My Department examines all staffing sanction requests on a case by case basis having due regard to the continued delivery of key services in the context of staffing and budgetary constraints. In considering sanction requests public safety, maintaining key front line services, and economic issues are given precedence.

The number of posts requested by Kildare County Council in 2014 to date is 60. These requested posts include posts to be filled internally by promotion or acting arrangements, and are spread across a wide range of Council activities, including planning, engineering, management/administration and fire services.