Human Resources Division
Head of Division: Patricia Cronin, Principal Officer
- The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources currently employs 282 staff which equates to 260 FTEs (full time equivalents). As already indicated this is a reduction of almost 80 as opposed to the position in 2007.
- As part of the Four Year National Recovery Plan, the Department is required to reduce staffing numbers to 245 by the end of 2014 while undertaking the same range of functions. We anticipate that normal wastage, mainly retirements, will enable this target to be met.
- The 2011 A1 budget allocation for the Department is €16.3m.
- The staff in the Department are either allocated to central or policy areas. The staffing complement in the Energy, Communications, Broadcasting, Postal and Natural Resources Divisions amounts to 177, of which approximately 46 work in the Geological Survey of Ireland. 105 staff are engaged in Corporate Support of which close to 50 are based in Cavan. The Natural Resources Division has a range of specialised functions which require technical staff (42 full time equivalents) ranging from Petroleum Exploration Specialists to Geologists.
Croke Park Action Plan
As required under the Croke Park Agreement, the Department has submitted an Action Plan to the Implementation Body which sets out a series of actions to achieve savings in accordance with the objectives of the Croke Park Agreement. Full year payroll savings of some €1.1m are anticipated by end 2015 due to a reduction in numbers. Further savings will arise from a range of measures. In Budget 2011, the Non-Pay Administrative Budget of Department was reduced by 14% resulting in savings of €1.5m per annum.
The most significant other actions currently being addressed are set out below:
Shared Services
- Transfer of the operational part of the Information Systems Division (ISD) function to the Department of Agriculture and Food. This will allow the Department to benefit from the economies of scale enjoyed by that much larger Department in the delivery of ICT functions. The new arrangements are expected to leverage savings in hosting, licencing and consultancy.
- Transfer of payroll function to the Department of Finance. Again this will allow the Department to leverage economies of scale in payroll provision.
Flexibility
- New HR policies which will support more flexible staff deployment and improved attendance management
- Participation in the FÁS graduate programme. The Department currently has six graduates from the programme on work placements.
- A copy of the separate Action Plans under the Croke Park Agreement for the Department and its Agencies is attached.