Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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423. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of WTE vacancies by job title in the import control division of his Department as of 10 October 2023; the full year cost of filling each of these vacancies and when will each of these vacancies be filled in tabular form. [44826/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's Human Resources Division uses workforce planning processes to identify and address staffing requirements. We are committed to ensuring a motivated and skilled workforce is in place to meet our business needs. As a consequence of the size and diversity of my Department structure, vacancies arise regularly as team members are promoted, exit the Department through retirements etc, while new team members join my Department through ongoing recruitment campaigns conducted via the Public Appointments Service (PAS), direct recruitment competitions or Civil Service Mobility schemes.

I recognise the need for a prompt and efficient service to be provided to farmers and members of the public alike. Given the size of the Department approximately 4,000 staff, recruitment takes place throughout the year, with all critical staffing vacancies being filled as soon as possible.

My Department has numerous staff members engaged in work relating to import controls functions. The following table provides the detailed information requested as relates to current vacancies within the Import Control Division on 10^thOctober 2023. New entrants start on the first point of the relevant salary scale, while those coming from other public service positions may start higher on the scale.