Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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604. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of forensic accountants employed by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the dates on which they commenced employment. [15888/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The mission of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) is to improve the compliance environment for corporate activity in the Irish economy by encouraging adherence to the requirements of the Companies Acts, and bringing to account those who disregard the law. The Office's staff comprise a multi-disciplined team of accountants, administrators and lawyers and civil servants of my Department.

Staffing resources are sought and allocated across my Department and its Offices, including the ODCE, in the context of the requirement to manage the pay bill and staff numbers in accordance with Government policy, utilising available resources in the most effective and efficient manner as appropriate to business needs and priorities. On a day-to-day basis the HR Unit of my Department works with individual Business Units and the Department’s Management Board team on the allocation of staff resources and this would include the ODCE. As an “Office” of my Department, this allows the Secretary General and his HR team the freedom to reallocate resources from one Business Unit to another as priorities change, always mindful that the pay-budget limits do constrain our capacity to grow staffing levels as well as having regard to strategic priorities captured through the workforce planning process, the latest iteration of which is currently under way in the Department.

In line with the current business needs of the ODCE, my Department and the ODCE have been working with the Public Appointments Service (PAS) on the recruitment of seven “Investigators” or professional forensic accountants. On foot of a recent competition, my Department has recently appointed three “Investigators” or professional forensic accountants to the ODCE, all of whom have commenced their assignments on 30 May 2016. One further forensic accountant is due to commence assignment in the ODCE on the 29 August 2016. My Department will continue to work with PAS on the remaining assignments.