Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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857. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of staff by grade working in the household benefits section; and the number of vacancies by grade within the section. [30727/21]

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 current staffing allocation for the Household Benefits scheme area, which also includes the administration of the Free Travel and Fuel Allowance schemes is set out in the table. The figure for full time equivalents (FTE) takes account of staff that avail of work-share options.

There is currently one vacancy at the Executive Officer grade and one vacancy at the Clerical Officer grade in this section.