Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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208. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the total number of staff vacancies in the public library service per local authority, which have not been filled since 2008 in tabular form. [29218/16]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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209. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the total number of county librarian posts which have not been filled since 2008. [29219/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 208 and 209 together.

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements 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 each individual Chief Executive to recruit and assign staff to specific divisions.

My Department does not maintain information on specific vacancies or recruitment within local authorities.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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210. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will address the issue of lone working by part-time branch librarians in rural libraries on health and safety grounds. [29220/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each local authority Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of their local authority.

My Department works closely with each local authority to ensure the right number of staff are in place for optimal service delivery. However, it is a matter for each Chief Executive to recruit and assign staff to specific business areas within their organisation, including in the library service. My Department has no role in this regard.