Politics

Need for new blood in Civil Service highlighted

Average age of staff now 47, Public Accounts Committee hears

Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. File Photograph: Frank Miller/The Irish Times
Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. File Photograph: Frank Miller/The Irish Times
Martin Wall
Thu Oct 03 2013 - 12:58

There are now very few people in Irish Civil Service under the age of 30, the secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has said.

Addressing the Dail Public Accounts Committee, Robert Watt said the median age of staff in the Civil Service was now 47.

He said large numbers of senior personnel, at principal officer and assistant secretary level, were due to retire in the next three or four years.

He said there was a need to start planning for the Civil Service for the future.

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The Civil Service had started to recruit some graduates last year and there would also be some staff taken on at executive officer level, Mr Watt said.

Martin Wall

Martin Wall

Martin Wall is the former Washington Correspondent of The Irish Times. He was previously industry correspondent