Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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448. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of diplomats due to retire in 2015 and 2016; if there is a strategic plan in place to deal with the exodus of talent and experience from our diplomatic missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43231/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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A total of 12 diplomatic officers will retire during 2015 and a further 5 diplomatic officers will retire in 2016. In common with other Departments, the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade has sustained substantial staff reductions under the moratorium on recruitment. Permanent Departmental staff numbers have fallen approximately 200, or about 13%, since 2009. In order to try to ameliorate the impact of the ongoing reductions in staffing, a major re-structuring of the Department’s Headquarters operations was completed in early 2012. Other functions and staff are routinely reorganised or reallocated to maximize continuity of work output and minimise disruption to service delivery to the citizen. For succession planning reasons, and on foot of comprehensive workforce planning exercises undertaken by my Department, exceptional sanction was received from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over the last two years to promote a number of officers to the grades of Counsellor and First Secretary to fill gaps created mainly by retirements. Sanction was also received to recruit a number of Third Secretaries, the entry grade to the diplomatic service, to fill existing and emerging vacancies in the grade at home and abroad. The first appointments from this competition were made in April 2014 and a total of 27 new Third Secretaries are now in situ, with a further 2 to join the Department over the coming weeks. These promotions and recruitment have constituted the main steps to counteract the loss of talent and experience from the diplomatic grades which has taken place over the last number of years. I acknowledge that retirements at senior level represent a significant loss of experience and talent for the Department. In this regard, it is important that we recognise the contribution this outgoing generation of officials has made to the advancement of our country at home and abroad, including through active involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process, promoting our trading and cultural links, ably representing Ireland at the EU and UN and other international fora, and building our globally-acclaimed development cooperation programme.

However, the recent recruitment and promotion of very high-calibre officers is helping to offset this tangible loss of experience, and is bringing an infusion of talent into the various grades and functions across my Department. In addition, focussed training opportunities are being provided to staff at all levels so as to ensure that the service provided by our officials remains at a very high level.

My Department will continue to assess its staffing requirements in the period ahead as part of its ongoing workforce planning process, in tandem with the setting of strategic priorities through the forthcoming Foreign Policy Review and Statement of Strategy.