Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Taoiseach the number of staff employed in his Department in each division in the past three years. [2849/18]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Taoiseach the number of staff employed in the EU division within his Department since January 2016. [2850/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 122 together.

The role of my Department is to support my work as Taoiseach and to co-ordinate the work of the Government and Cabinet. In order to provide this service, the staffing and structure of my Department is reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Details of the number of staff employed in my Department over the past three years are as follows:

- 31 December 2015 - 196.1 (whole-time equivalent)

- 31 December 2016 - 188.2 (whole-time equivalent)

- 23 January 2018 - 205.1 (whole-time equivalent)

Currently, my Department is structured around seven work areas. The breakdown of staff assigned to each of these areas is as follows:

The remainder of staff in my Department include services staff and those assigned to Private Offices, Constituency Offices, the Government Press Office and Internal Audit.

Due to changes in the structure of my Department over the past three years, it is not possible to provide an accurate comparison of staff numbers by Division for that period.

My Department's International, EU and Northern Ireland Division is headed by a Second Secretary General, who also acts as the Irish Sherpa for EU business, including Brexit issues. The staffing resources of the Division currently amount to a whole-time equivalent of 24.3 staff across the full range of policy areas. The work of this Division includes supporting the work of Cabinet Committee C, which deals with EU affairs, including Brexit, and supports me in my role as a member of the European Council.

In particular, this Cabinet Committee assists the Government in its ongoing consideration of Brexit issues including input to the negotiation process, both on the issues that are of unique or particular concern to Ireland, and more generally.

The Division prepares me for engagement on a wide range of EU issues, as well as the debate on the future of Europe, and supports efforts to develop our strategic alliances in a post-Brexit scenario.

The Division also supports me in my International role and in all of my international engagements ensuring that they are strategically aligned with, and effectively advance, the Government's priorities, with a particular focus on driving job creation, sustainable economic development, trade, tourism and investment and on protecting and promoting our strategic interests internationally.

The Division also provides advice and support to me in relation to Northern Ireland Affairs and British Irish relations, and Brexit issues in that context. Staff in other divisions also contribute to the work on Brexit. For example, the Economic Division advises me on economic policy aimed at supporting sustainable economic growth, with a particular focus on jobs and competitiveness including possible economic impacts of Brexit.

In all of its work across international, EU and British and Northern Ireland issues, my Department works closely with other relevant Departments including, in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which has lead responsibility for most policy matters in these areas, including Brexit.