Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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1302. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of women and men, respectively, employed in his Department, in tabular form. [37066/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to being a modern, diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects and is capable of serving 21st century Irish society.

We currently employ a total of 3,186 staff members.  The breakdown of male and female staff members is given in the tables. 

By monitoring trends and publishing data, we are continuously raising awareness of the need for Gender Balance.  We are developing our HR expertise and methodologies in order to monitor trends and to provide relevant information to staff, the Management Board and our Gender Balance Steering Group.  Our aim is to identify and address any possible barriers to equal opportunities in the Department. 

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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1303. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of men and women, respectively, in his Department who hold posts (details supplied). [37077/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department has 184 staff who hold posts at Secretary General, Assistant Secretary, Principal and Assistant Principal level.  The current gender breakdown for these grades is as follows:

Assistant Principal (AP) - 63 Women and 73 Men

Principal Officer (PO) - 15 Women and 24 Men

Assistant Secretary (A. Sec) - 2 Women and 6 Men

Secretary General - 1 Man

However, due to the nature of the work carried out within my Department, our business needs are complex and require a variety of specialised skills.  In addition to the general administrative grades, a number of professional, scientific and technical staff also work in my Department and undertake different roles.  The diverse mandate of DAFM and the requirement for specialised roles require a broad range of staff with many different skill sets.  Some of these roles are highly specialised, making grade comparisons difficult.  Salary, competencies and role requirements are the main issues considered when assessing approximate equivalence. There are specialised professional and technical staff operating at equivalent levels to AP, PO and Assistant Secretary across my Department.