Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the disaggregation of salary scales or levels among agency workers within or through his Department. [20625/18]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of workers employed through his Department under the status of agency worker. [20631/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 130 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department uses the services of the State's independent recruitment office, the Public Appointments Service, to the maximum extent possible.

However, in order to deliver the business of the organisation, it is necessary for my Department to occasionally engage the services of an employment agency to source agency workers to fill critical positions on a short to medium-term basis.

The following table outlines the number of agency workers currently engaged in my Department.

With regard to the Deputy's request for information on the disaggregation of salary scales or levels among agency workers, as above, my Department only engage agency workers in a very limited number of cases, typically to fill very particular or critical roles. As such the qualifications and/or experience of an agency worker will have a bearing on rates charged by the employment agency. In the context of the information above the same charges are applied in respect of the two Pathology Technicians currently engaged.