Finance Department ‘made up of generalists, not specialists’

A TOTAL OF 542 civil servants work at the Department of Finance — but just 39 are trained to Masters level or higher.

According to the independent review panel into the workings of the department, technical education standards are “extraordinarily low by international standards,” with just 10% of the staff holding postgraduate qualifications compared to 60% in Canada and 40% in Holland.

The review, which was held at the request of former finance minister Brian Lenihan and published yesterday, says the department urgently requires more staff with specific qualifications in economics, accounting and finance rather than the “generalists” that currently make up the numbers. It recommends that over the next two years, the numbers of specialists in economics, finance and banking double.