Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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680. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to set out the total number of full-time and part-time staff in the trade policy section in her Department; the staff increases she is considering for 2017 to deal with developments around an impending Brexit; if any staff requests were made in 2016 to strengthen resources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5518/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Staffing levels of my Department, its Offices and Agencies reflect the requirement to manage the pay bill and staff numbers in accordance with Government pay policy with staff resources deployed in the most effective and efficient manner as appropriate to business needs and key priorities at any given time.

An additional €3 million was secured in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 and is being targeted specifically to assist in our response to the evolving Brexit scenario. It is enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies recruit an additional forty to fifty staff to supplement existing staffing numbers. In this regard, a dedicated Brexit Unit within my Department has been established, which is led at Principal Officer level with a team of three staff (two assigned and one to follow), to be reviewed in line with the necessary workload as the Unit’s agenda unfolds. In addition, of course, the work of very many other Business Units across my Department is impacted by Brexit and these Units have, or are in the process of finalising, business plans for 2017 whereby Brexit implications for their work is factored in. In addition, a workforce planning process spanning the years 2017-19 is currently underway across the Department and coordinated by my HR Unit which will review the level of resources assigned across all Divisions of my Department in relation to the current strategic priorities of my Department. Naturally, responding to Brexit will feature heavily in the plan.

In relation to the number of staff serving in the Trade Policy and Export Licensing Section, there are currently 18 staff in 17.1 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions in this Unit. This is an increase from 16 and 15.5 respectively from January 2016.

Staffing resources are an ongoing priority to ensure my Department’s continued ability to facilitate the wide mission and volume of work in a range of challenging policy areas. This will continue with ongoing day-to-day review of the appropriate staffing across my Department in response to known and developing priority areas.