A NEW UNIT aimed at recruiting economic expertise into the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform will this week receive its first batch of economists educated to at least masters degree level.
A dependence on generalist Civil Service staff without specialist qualifications has been identified as a contributing factor in various reports into the banking crisis and credit bubble.
The new Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service will change this culture, according to secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure Robert Watt.
“Ireland produces world-class economists, but up to now, the linkage with public policymaking has been weak. Some of our best and brightest economists have been bred for export,” Mr Watt said.
“Teams of economists, all at masters level or better, are now being drafted in to fill key vacancies in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Finance and the Taoiseach’s Department,” he said.
More than 3,400 applications were received for positions at administrative officer level when the department launched a recruitment campaign in January to provide a pool of economic, financial and legal expertise for use across the Civil Service to support strategic policy development.
The department expects to hire 29 postgraduate recruits this year, with 17 being brought into the Economic and Evaluation Service this week.
The remaining 12 will be recruited into areas where gaps in policy analysis capability have been identified. The new recruits will bring a mix of private- and public-sector experience and are generally older than postgraduates brought in following previous competitions.
Retirements from the department have allowed for the recruitments despite the moratorium. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has the authority to allow for the filling of some vacancies in what are deemed “very exceptional circumstances”.
Administrative officers are paid €31,619 at the bottom of the standard scale and up to €60,224 at the top of the higher scale. Oversight of the economic service unit will include independent expertise from the Economic and Social Research Institute and from the wider academic community.
The long-term aim is for all major policymaking departments to have fully-trained economic units.
Meanwhile, Mr Howlin will today attend the World Economic Forum in Istanbul, where he will brief attendees on the ratification of the fiscal treaty referendum. “Minister Howlin will set out the actions that Ireland has taken to get our economy back on track, including the passing of the stability treaty and the need for a European wide growth agenda,” his spokeswoman said.
The Government will this week intensify its efforts to persuade European leaders to sanction the use of European Stability Mechanism funds to recapitalise Irish banks, having declared that the State must get a “just” deal on banking debt.
A spokesman for Minister for Finance Michael Noonan told The Irish Times particular emphasis was being placed on the development of an alternative funding solution to the promissory note arrangement in the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank.
He said technical discussions were continuing with the troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Union, to lessen the burden of debt associated with the bank recapitalisation on the Irish taxpayer.
“In this regard, we support proposals to allow European funds to directly recapitalise banks and will ensure that any proposals advanced at EU level will be in the best interest of the Irish taxpayer,” the spokesman said.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said the Government was working to achieve political support across Europe for a deal to ease Irish bank debt, which he described as an “obstacle” to domestic growth.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said if Spain got better terms than Ireland, the State should be allowed to benefit from the same favourable terms retrospectively.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble believes Spanish banks may require up to €90 billion in funding.
