Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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259. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons employed by his Department in each of the years 2011 to 2016; the details of the current staffing levels and vacancies in all locations, in tabular form; his views on the way the effective delivery of services in his Department has been affected by the restrictions on staffing levels imposed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25273/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The following table shows the staffing levels in my Department at 31 December for each year requested. The increase in staffing in 2011 and 2012 is primarily as a result of the integration of staff and functions from the former FAS and the Community Welfare Service of the HSE.

The following table provides a breakdown of current posts and staffing numbers by county as of 1 May 2017.

My Department, like all Government departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative budget which for this Department has involved reductions in staff numbers. It is in that context and on the basis of business needs that critical posts are filled. At any given time the most critical posts can change depending on business needs and on opportunities that arise to restructure or rationalise posts. It is therefore not possible to provide a list of vacancies.

The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to new and increasing demands in a wide range of services. This is to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department. This is managed through a programme of Workforce Planning to include training & development and internal redeployment of staff.