The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has said while the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has not “issued an embargo on staffing” it is currently managing resourcing “within budgetary constraints”.
The Independent TD for Roscommon, Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice, raised the issue of staffing levels at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in the Dáil earlier this week.
Deputy Fitzmaurice said: “What I am hearing from inside the department is that people are being told that, if they are short staffed, then they will not get new staff until someone in the department retires.
“This might not officially count as an embargo, but it is an embargo”.
Minister Charlie McConalogue told the Independent TD that DAFM currently employs 4,017 staff.
“Over the past five years, my department’s business needs have grown significantly.
“The total number of employees at the end of 2022 was 3,922. This figure rose throughout 2023, culminating in a staffing complement of 4,007 by the end of the year, representing an increase of almost 700 staff members in a five-year period,” the minister detailed.
He told the Dáil that the department’s workforce is at an “historic high”.
According to Minister McConalogue DAFM’s payroll budget is just over €250 million per year.
“This finances our salary and allowance costs for the full year of 2024,” he added.
DAFM
Minister McConalogue also detailed to Deputy Fitzmaurice that DAFM has grown its staffing numbers to ensure that “we meet our commitment to deliver a quality service to all in the agricultural community and to all other citizens who depend on my department for overseeing food production and standards”.
“We are obliged to manage our resourcing within budgetary constraints.
“The department remains committed to continuing to do this throughout 2024. Importantly, my department recognises the requirement to strategically apply its staffing resources while considering departmental and broader governmental priorities,” he added.