Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Finance how many Civil Service staff vacancies exist within each Department; and what measures are being taken to fill those vacancies.
Minister of Finance: Details of the total vacancies in each department is not held centrally. Individual departments advise DoF NICSHR of vacancies that they wish to proceed to fill.
For General Service grades, supply is available at AO, SO and DP grades from recent volume external competitions, with allocations of successful candidates into vacant posts underway. It should be noted that due to the current pandemic situation, some departments have asked for start dates to be delayed. A number of individual competitions are also underway to fill General Service posts requiring specific skills and experience, particularly relating to priority posts at the senior grades. Consideration is currently being given to generating supply at the EO1 and EO2 grades.
For non-General Service grades, the range and complexity of roles within the NICS means that these vacancies fall across over 60 occupational groups (such as civil engineers, medical officers, accountants, etc) and require individual competitions.
ENDS
Your MLA 