databank.per.gov.ie Public Service Staff Numbers Databank Ireland : Department of Public Expenditure & Reform

Name of the Organization : Department of Public Expenditure & Reform Databank
Type of Facility : Public Service Staff Numbers Databank
Country: Ireland

Website : http://databank.per.gov.ie/Public_Service_Numbers.aspx

Public Service Staff Numbers Databank

The Public Service Numbers databank provides access to a comprehensive set of Public Service Numbers presented on a whole time equivalent basis and shows the numbers of staff employed in each sector for the period 1980 to 2014.

Related : Citizens Information Board Personal Public Service Number Ireland : www.statusin.org/7153.html

From 1980 to 2007 the end quarter Q4 figures are available. From Q4 2008 onwards data is available on a quarterly basis. These staff numbers include public servants whose pay is not in all cases funded directly by the Exchequer. The largest category of these is Local Authority employees but there are also staff in some Non-Commercial State Agencies whose pay is funded from the own resources of these bodies.

In functional terms, the public service is composed of the Civil Service, the Education Sector (principally teaching professionals at primary, post-primary and third level), the Justice sector (principally An Garda Síochána), the Health Sector (principally staff employed by the Health Service Executive), the local authorities and the non-commercial state agencies or NCSAs.

A new system for monitoring public service numbers was introduced in the first quarter of 2009. This system uses the Q4 2008 figures as its base and the numbers are based on information reported to the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform on a quarterly basis. The system is a live system and is being continuously refined and enhanced and there may be minor discontinuities in the series reflecting methodological changes and updated information regarding numbers in particular sectors.

The Public Service Numbers Databank has been updated to include new drillable reports and an open data report to provide users with all the underlying data used to create the reports. Each report now has a unique url to facilitate easy referencing to data on the databank. Please note that the data from Q4 2008 onward is drillable. Q4 data from 1980 to 2007 is only available at an aggregate level by sector. The Sector History report is the only report that show data from 1980 to 2007.

Note: Latest data period is Q3 2014. Last updated Dec 2014. The databank will be updated with Q4 2014 in February 2015.

Public Service Numbers Notes:

In March 2011 the Government announced the transfer of functions between various Government Departments making direct comparisons between the quarterly returns and annual data difficult in some instances.

Additional Notes:
1. Civil Service numbers include Civil Servants who work for the Houses of the Oireachtas, who are paid from the Central Fund.
2. Health Group figures for Q2 2011 include numbers for the Department of Children & Youth Affairs
3. Social Protection figures for 2011 include the transfer of the Community Welfare Service from the HSE
4. Social Protection figures for Q1 2012 include the transfer of over 700 FAS staff from the Education Vote Group
5. Children and Youth Affairs figures from Q1 2012 include the transfer of the Irish Youth Justice Service from the Justice Vote Group
6. New Shared Services Vote, which numbered 125 in Q1 2013, under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform
7. President’s Establishment previously under the aegis of the Dept of Public Expenditure & Reform moved to Taoiseach Group in Q1 2012
8. The Legal Aid Board numbers under Justice NCSAs include the Family Mediation Service (FMS) from Q4 2011 when the FMS transferred to the Legal Aid Board.
9. From Q1 2012 the Justice Sector comprises An Garda Síochána only as the Centre for Young Offenders moved to Children and Youth Affairs and the Legal Aid Board was reclassified as an NCSA.

We would welcome your feedback on the Public Service Staff Numbers Databank, including suggestions for how it could be improved – please send us an e-mail at psnumbers@per.gov.ie