Public Service Numbers

The Public Service Numbers databank provides access to a comprehensive set of Public Service Numbers presented on a whole time equivalent basis and shows the numbers of staff employed in each sector for the period 1980 to 2015. From 1980 to 2007 the end quarter Q4 figures are available. From Q4 2008 onwards data is available on a quarterly basis. These staff numbers include public servants whose pay is not in all cases funded directly by the Exchequer. The largest category of these is Local Authority employees but there are also staff in some Non-Commercial State Agencies whose pay is funded from the own resources of these bodies. In functional terms, the public service is composed of the Civil Service, the Education Sector (principally teaching professionals at primary, post-primary and third level), the Justice sector (principally An Garda Síochána), the Health Sector (principally staff employed by the Health Service Executive), the local authorities and the non-commercial state agencies or NCSAs. A new system for monitoring public service numbers was introduced in the first quarter of 2009. This system uses the Q4 2008 figures as its base and the numbers are based on information reported to the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform on a quarterly basis. The system is a live system and is being continuously refined and enhanced and there may be minor discontinuities in the series reflecting methodological changes and updated information regarding numbers in particular sectors.