Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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570. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of staff currently employed in the legal and legislation unit of her Department; the breakdown of officers’ grades, minimum legal qualifications and training required for deployment to this unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45120/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department, like all Government departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget.

The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to new demands across a wide range of services. This is to ensure that the best use is made of available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.

The Legislation and Legal Unit is staffed by a mix of general service staff with a range of experience, qualifications and training and professional lawyers with appropriate legal qualifications. The table below provides a breakdown by grade of staff in the Unit as at the end of December 2020. The figure for full time equivalents (FTE) takes account of staff that avail of work-share options.