Written answers

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Sector Staff Data

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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320. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the average age of full-time staff across the Civil Service; the way this compares with the average age of public servants in each of the years 2005 to 2015 and in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23903/15]

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Age related data on serving civil servants is readily available from 2006 onwards and it shows that over the period 2006 to 2015 the average age in the Civil Service rose from just over 43 years of age to almost 48 years of age, as presented in the table below.  The Moratorium on Recruitment over much of that period will have contributed to this.  Similar age related data on the wider Public Service is currently retained by the lead sectoral Departments  - e.g. Health, Education, Justice, Environment and Local Government - but it is likely to show that the impact of the Moratorium will have had broadly the same outcome of an increase in average age, although there was considerable recruitment during the Moratorium in Health and Education, in particular. 

As I announced at the time of the last Budget, the Moratorium on Recruitment in the Public Service has been lifted, and during 2015 new arrangements are being put in place which allow for increased levels of recruitment, particularly at the graduate level.  This will impact on the average age, which should begin to show through from next year onwards.  The Public Appointments Service has already held a number of open graduate recruitment campaigns for the Civil Service this year - for specialist and general administrative grades - and more is scheduled in the coming year.

In addition, Workforce Planning is now being carried out across the Civil Service, having been first introduced in 2011.  Under this new management framework, Government Departments and Offices are analysing the current workforce, including age demographics, and defining  future workforce requirements relative to their corporate strategy, budget and business planning process.  It plays a critical role in identifying forecasted workforce gaps and designing and implementing HR strategies to address those gaps.

Further information on age, gender and other components of the Civil Service are available on the Civil Service Renewal area of my Department's web site . 

YEARAVERAGE AGE
2006 143.1
200743.2
200843.6
200944.3
201044.8
201145.5
201245.8
201346.6
201447.1
2015247.9
1. The earliest data available relates to 2006  

2. 2015 data relates to end Q1

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