Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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312. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the estimated full-year cost of recruiting an extra eight HEO inspection team managers and 35 extra EO inspectors for the Workplace Relations Commission; the current staff complement for the office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39745/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Staffing levels of my Department, its Offices and Agencies reflect the requirement to manage the pay bill and staff numbers in accordance with Government pay policy with staff resources deployed in the most effective and efficient manner as appropriate to business needs and key priorities at any given time.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an office of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and was established on 1 October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The main functions of the WRC are to promote the improvement of workplace relations, the maintenance of good workplace relations and promote and encourage compliance with relevant employment legislation.

The current staffing of the WRC is set out in tabular form:

There are currently 7 HEO Inspection Team Managers and 51 EO inspectors. Both of these grades carry an allowance of €8,160 per annum.

I have set out, in the table below, the full-year cost of a further 8 HEO Inspection Team Managers and 35 extra EO Inspectors. The estimate is based on internal figures used for estimating the average wage for HEO and EO, plus the rate of allowance. The total extra cost would be €2,354,408.32 as outlined in the calculations below:

* Total for 8 HEO Inspection Team Managers.

** Total for 35 EO Inspectors.