Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which normal retirement, early retirement or other factors are likely to feature in the context of staffing levels throughout the public sector in the current and future years; if particular or sensitive areas have been identified, which may require future attention in terms of adequate staffing to meet demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9955/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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107. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the Government Departments and their respective subordinate agencies which have so far contributed most in terms of meeting targets in respect of staff and cost reduction; the extent to which such Departments are likely to experience any reprieve in future years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9956/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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109. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which the public sector pay bill has fluctuated in each of the past five years to date in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9958/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 106, 107 and 109 together.

On the issues raised by the Deputy regarding pay bill trends over time and the scale of the numbers reductions across different Government Departments and agencies I refer the Deputy, in the first instance, to my Department's web site, at .  Here the Deputy will find comprehensive data on all Government Departments on expenditure - both pay and non-pay - as well as the corresponding staffing levels and trends for the years in question up until end 2013.  It shows that there has been a ten percent reduction in Public Service Numbers over the last five years, from a peak of around 320,000 in 2008 to just under 288,000 at end 2013. Over the period from 2009 to 2013, the pay bill has been reduced from a peak of €17.5 billion to €14.1 billion, net of the pension related deduction.

 On the matter of the impact of retirement across the public service in the years ahead, this is something that public service managers deal with and manage every year in the normal course of events, and there will continue to  be scope to recruit or redeploy existing staff, taking account of existing number and pay ceilings, to address service delivery issues that may arise from retirements.  The identification of areas that are perhaps more sensitive or exposed to retirement in the coming years and responding to that is a matter for sectoral managers across the public service.  To support them in this are the new more flexible work conditions and additional hours provided for in the Haddington Road Agreement and initiatives such as the workforce planning framework, which my Department has supported and which provides for medium term staff resource planning.