Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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124. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of civil servants within his Department on a transfer request list; and his views on whether civil servants should work closer to their homes if possible. [20425/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Civil Service Mobility scheme which comes under the remit of my department, and is administered through HR Shared Services, National Shared Services Office, offers an opportunity for staff members to apply for mobility through an open and transparent system.

The scheme will support the needs of the business, increase career development opportunities and facilitate relocation for staff members. The establishment of the scheme fulfils one of the requirements of Action 15 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan; and Action 14 of the People Strategy for the Civil Service, which calls for the further expansion of a coherent mobility policy to facilitate staff development and strategic alignment with other HR policies, builds upon this.

The scheme is being introduced on a phased basis as follows:

Phase 1Aof the scheme is for the general Civil Service grades of Clerical Officer (CO) and Executive Officer (EO) to apply for mobility between and within 46 zones - excluding mobility within Zone 46 (Dublin) which will be included in Phase 1B. The application stage of this phase launched in November 2017 with the offer stage launched in September 2018.

The location choices in the scheme are divided into mobility zones rather than county or province. An applicant may express a preference for mobility for a maximum of 3 zones from the list of 46 zones with a choice of any or all organisations in each zone (a full list of zones and organisations per zone can be viewed at www.hr.per.gov.ie). Staff members can apply for mobility within their current zone (excluding Phase 1B, Zone 46 Dublin) as well as other zones. A number of mobility zones also have an option to include or exclude a choice of satellite towns.

Phase 1B (COs and EOs - Dublin) is on track to launch in the next few months.

Phase 2of the scheme will include the general Civil Service grades of Higher Executive Officer, and Assistant Principal. Officials from my Department have commenced discussions with stakeholders on the development of this phase and it is anticipated that Phase 2 will be introduced in 2020.

Principal Officer (PO) Mobility- this scheme was introduced in September 2015. It was designed “to expand career and mobility opportunities for staff across geographic, organisational and sectoral boundaries.”

Senior Public Service (SPS) Mobility– this scheme was introduced in 2012. Assistant Secretary level mobility was introduced as a means of providing an opportunity for skills and experience across the system to be deployed more effectively in pursuit of common Governmental and civil service goals and priorities.

Number of staff on D/Public Expenditure and Reform outbound Mobility list

The current number of staff members seeking mobility opportunities under Phase 1A of the scheme from my Department are 7 (5 EOs and 2 COs).