THE CLOSING date for the Government's early retirement scheme for civil servants has been extended for a week because of the need for clarification on a number of technical issues.
The cut-off for the incentivised scheme was due to be yesterday. But the deadline will now be next Friday, following queries received by the Department of Finance on how the lump sum being offered for early retirees will be paid.
The latest available statistics, dating from the end of September, indicate that 992 civil servants had applied for the scheme and that 811 of these had been approved. In the wider public service, 347 public servants had applied and 130 had been approved.
However, the figures do not include the applications that were made in the education sector from teachers, lecturers and other staff.
Moreover, figures from local authorities have not been released and only partial figures are available from the health sector and HSE, as a result of a direction to its members by trade union Impact not to co-operate with redeployment.
The latest figures were contained in a written answer to a parliamentary question tabled by Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney on October 6th.
The highest uptake for the scheme came from the Revenue Commissioners where 322 applied. A total of 127 have applied from the Department of Social and Family Affairs while 82 civil servants from the Department of Agriculture have applied.
In terms of grades, there are no applications from secretaries general of Government departments although 12 assistant secretaries have applied. Of the next highest grades, 83 principal officers have applied and 206 assistant principals. The highest number of applications has come form the higher executive officer grade where 253 have applied.