Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the estimated full year cost of recruiting an extra two full-time digital forensic specialists and two extra enforcement lawyers for the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2801/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Details of the estimated full year cost of recruiting additional staff in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) as requested by the Deputy are set out in tabular format.

*based on the starting point of the relevant payscale 

These figures do not account for the proposed pay adjustment under the Lansdowne Road Agreement due October 2019 (1.75%).  The estimated cost including employer PRSI for the adjustment is €640.22 and €944.08 respectively. 

The Deputy should note that, following his appointment in the latter half of 2012, the Director of the ODCE carried out a review of the ODCE’s then skills mix and operational capacity. That review, inter alia, identified certain skill deficiencies, as a consequence of which sanction was sought, and subsequently obtained, to recruit a number of additional professional staff to address the identified need. 

Further to that process, the Department, through the Public Appointments Service, recruited a suitably qualified and experienced Digital Forensics Specialist and two Enforcement Lawyers to the ODCE.  In addition, seven qualified and experienced forensic accountants and two Enforcement Portfolio Managers were recruited for assignment to the ODCE.

Currently, within the ODCE, there are no vacancies in these senior-level positions named by the Deputy, and in the context of workforce planning, the skills sets, competencies, roles and responsibilities associated with all senior-level positions are continuously reviewed by the Director to better reflect the organisation’s current and future resource needs.