This article is from page 2 of the 2012-03-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE number of frontline civil service staff working in the county has been reduced by hundreds since the Government embargo in 2008.
The exact number is still unclear, but a least 100 more have been lost through the Government’s early retirement scheme, which ended on February 29.
Clare local authorities are suffering the greatest staff reduction, losing almost one fifth of its staffing levels since its peak in 2006.
In June 2006, there were 1,002 employees working for Clare County Council, Kilrush Town Council and Kilkee Town Council.
By March 1 this year, that number had dropped by 197 people to 805.
The council started to reduce its staffing numbers prior to the embargo in 2008, so as to avoid “a slash and burn” once the Government called for the cuts.
From June 2008 to March 1, 2012, Clare’s local authorities lost 159 staff members through retirement, voluntary redundancy and people leaving for other employment.
The councils are attempting to cover the staffing shortage by moving staff between departments and councils.
The number of Gardaí in the county has dropped by at least 41 members in the last 11 months.
At the January meeting of the Joint Policing Committee, Chief Superintendent John Kerins told the members that there will be at least 41 less members on the force in Clare at the end of February this year when compared to the end of March last year.
As a result of the drop in personnel and the ever-tightening Garda budget, Carrigaholt lost its garda station this year, with more stations expected to close in the coming years.
At least 31 primary school teachers have retired from the county’s schools in the last few months, with many more choosing to take their retirement package from the county’s secondary schools.
The number of teachers in the county is expected to be reduced further in September, when the Department of Education increases class sizes.
Last week, the HSE announced that as many as 1,222 people have retired from the HSE West since last September.
The health service area, which includes County Clare, lost 680 people, mostly frontline staff, to the Early Retirement Scheme since the beginning of the year.
In the former Mid Western Health Board area, made up of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, almost 300 staff had retired just one week before the cut-off mark of February 29.