Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of clerical officers and clerical assistants in his Department on temporary contracts by years of service; if these officers will be offered permanent positions in the Civil Service when they have served a fixed period of time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16431/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Each year my Department recruits Temporary Clerical Officers for the Passport Service to meet the seasonal demand in passport applications.

We have seen a marked increase in demand for passports and citizenship via foreign birth registration from applicants since the Brexit vote. Therefore, Temporary Clerical Officers have also been recruited to assist with this extra demand in both the Passport Office and in Consular Division.

In response to the increase in demand my Department is also recruiting permanent Clerical Officers.

My Department does not recruit Temporary Clerical Assistants.

For 2018, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has sanctioned the recruitment of 228 Temporary Clerical Officers for my Department, to be employed for a maximum of 6,654 weeks. As of Friday 13 April 2018 there are 174 Temporary Clerical Officers in the Passport Service.

The table details the number of Temporary Clerical Officers serving in the Passport Service at end June in the last 3 years.

My Department abides by the Protection of Employees (Fixed-term Work) Act 2003 which,inter alia, makes provision for certain former fixed-term employees.