The head of financial regulation at the Central Bank of Ireland has said the public sector pay cuts introduced by the Government have hindered its ability to fill 67 vacant positions in his department.

Cyril Roux, who became deputy governor and head of financial regulation on October 1st, said his department is approved for 677 staff but only 610 positions are filled.

Turnover at the Central Bank last year, which employs 1,386 staff in total, was 6.05 per cent, excluding retirements and contracts ending.

“Yes, the reduction in pay has inhibited our ability to recruit and retain our staff,” Mr Roux told Business This Week in his first media interview since taking office.

“It makes it difficult for us to attract and retain the lawyers, the actuaries, the accountants, the IT specialists that we need to be an effective supervisor.

“For financial regulation...we have less people than we need. We allocate resources according to impact and the number of firms we regulate.

We calculate the number of people that we need. We need 677 but we have 610,” Mr Roux added.