Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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165. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether third level colleges have appropriate staffing levels; his plans to introduce a voluntary redundancy scheme in areas in which staff are deemed surplus to requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33367/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, third level institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for the day to day management and operational affairs of the institute, including the management of its staffing requirements. My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions and the internal disbursement of funding (both public and private) is then a matter for the individual institution.

Since the introduction of the moratorium on public sector recruitment, an Employment Control Framework (ECF) has been in place for the higher education sector which provides institutions with considerable flexibility to fill vacancies, through recruitment or promotions on the basis of meeting an overall ceiling of posts.

In Budget 2015, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform announced that the existing ECFs and associated moratoriums would be lifted and replaced with a system of delegated sanction for recruiting and promoting up to Principal Officer level, subject to adherence by Departments to binding pay ceilings and ongoing compliance with Workforce Planning requirements. My Department is currently consulting with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to identify the most appropriate staffing model for the  higher education sector.

My Department does not have any plans at this time to introduce a general voluntary redundancy scheme in the third level sector. In a situation where an institute identifies staff who are surplus to requirements, it may utilise the redeployment arrangements currently in place for the public service. This issue is being kept under review.