Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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314. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 552 of 7 September 2018, when this information will be collated and available. [39937/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have been advised by my Office that the response issued to the Questions Office on 25 September 2018 for onward transmission to the Deputy.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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315. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Brexit staff hired by her Department and agencies under her remit in 2017 and to date in 2018 following the announcement of additional staff recruitment as a Brexit measure in both budgets 2017 and 2018, in tabular form. [39938/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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With regard to my own Department, a dedicated Brexit Unit was established in 2016 and is led at Assistant Secretary level within the EU Affairs and Trade Policy Division, to coordinate and represent the Departmental and Agencies response to Brexit and to support me in my position at the Cabinet Committee dealing with Brexit. The Unit also leads on engagement with a broad range of stakeholders to inform and validate our response to Brexit.

When the unit was set up in 2016 it consisted of three staff, one Principal Officer, one Assistant Principal Officer and one Higher Executive Officer. Additional staffing of two Assistant Principal Officers, one Higher Executive Officer and one Clerical Officer were appointed in 2017. The Department are also seeking to appoint a further HEO / AO to the Unit.

Staff expertise is also being drawn from across a number of different policy areas of the Department in shaping our Brexit response and a number of areas that are most impacted have been assigned additional staff including but not exclusively to deal with Brexit. We are continually prioritising the Brexit challenges and will actively keep the staffing requirements under review through workforce planning.

I have set out in the statistical table below the number of Brexit staff recruited (and to be recruited) by my Department and the Agencies under it's remit in 2017 and to date in 2018 following the announcement of additional staff recruitment as a Brexit measure in both Budgets 2017 and 2018.

Budget 2017 and Budget 2018 - Posts and Recruitment

Given the wide mission that my Department and it's Agencies have, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union continues to impact significantly on all policy fields. In this context, officers across all areas may deal with Brexit related queries depending on their nature; and many other posts within the Department and its Agencies have responsibilities relating to Brexit.