Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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1408. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 348 of April 2017, the number of staff hired and to be hired with the additional €3 million secured for her Department in respect of pay in budget 2017, in tabular form and being targeted specifically to assist in the response to the evolving Brexit scenario; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19490/17]

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 €3million 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 some 40 to 50 additional staff to supplement existing staffing numbers.  These numbers may grow as Agencies allocate additional Own Resource Income, by agreement with the Department, to recruit further staff to work on "Brexit-related" activity.

The additional €3m has been allocated across:

- Enterprise Ireland

- IDA Ireland

- Science Foundation Ireland

- The Health and Safety Authority, and 

- The Department itself (€250,000)

The Department as a whole (currently 861 staff or 813 Full-Time Equivalents) has prioritised the Brexit challenges in its work plans for 2017 across all its Divisions. Brexit Unit staffing has been set at a team of 4 staff for now as follows: 1 Principal, 1 Assistant Principal, 1 Higher Executive Officer and 1 Clerical Officer.  In addition, the work of very many Business Units across the Department is impacted by Brexit.  These Units have finalised their business plans for 2017 and the impact of Brexit for their work has been fully factored in.  In addition, a workforce planning process spanning the years 2017-19 has recently been concluded. This process was coordinated by my Department's HR Unit and reviewed the level of resources assigned across all Divisions of the Department in relation to our current strategic priorities, and, naturally, responding to Brexit features heavily in the plan. In this regard additional staffing resources will be recruited to support the Brexit Unit and other areas of the Department impacted by Brexit in the immediate period ahead.

In terms of the Agency numbers, additional Brexit resources are being put in place in response to the €2.750m allocated for extra staff. This sum is anticipated to allow for additional Brexit staffing in Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SFI and the HSA (with a number of specific posts sanctioned and recruitment under way).

In relation to Enterprise Ireland, my Department has sanctioned an additional 39 posts with the Agency supplementing the “Brexit” pay allocation with additional Own Resource Income. 12 of the 39 posts have been filled. The remaining 27 are actively being sourced through recruitment processes.

IDA Ireland has sought 21 additional staff resources in order that it can meet the jobs and investment targets set out in its Strategy – “Winning Foreign Direct Investment 2015 – 2019” - and to meet the global challenges of 2017 and beyond with Brexit key among the identified challenges.  The Agency also submitted a staff resourcing strategy to the Department in July 2016 which sought sanction for retention of the 35 staff hired on 3-year fixed term contracts under the Winning Abroad Programme.  This request is still under consideration. The Department has recently approved IDA's request to reinstate its Graduate Recruitment Programme on a three year contract basis and will commence the recruitment process shortly.  In addition, IDA has received official sanction to recruit 10 additional “Brexit” staff members. One of the Brexit staff members has been recruited and recruitment is underway for the remaining positions.

Science Foundation Ireland will be hiring an additional 3 staff in 2017 who will have Brexit related responsibilities as part of their portfolios

In relation to the Health and Safety Authority, the Department has recently formally sanctioned an additional Assistant Principal post which is one of the two posts identified as ‘Brexit’ related for that body. Formal approval for the second post, for a Grade III Inspector, is currently awaited. The HSA will commence recruitment to fill the AP post in the near future.

Finally, in respect of these Agencies, they all have prioritised the Brexit implications arising for them in their individual work plans for 2017 and beyond which serving staff will contribute to as part of their day-to-day work. In this regard the staffing of these Agencies is set out below:

- Enterprise Ireland had 575 staff in 564 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of upwards of 39 staff takes effect.

- IDA had 268 staff in 259 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of upwards of 21 staff takes effect.

- SFI had 47 staff in 46.5 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of 2 additional staff takes effect.

- HSA has 167 staff in 159 Full-Time Equivalent posts before Brexit-specific recruitment of 2 additional staff takes effect.