The number of temporary agency staff employed by the regional civil service has soared by more than one third in 12 months.
The scale of the increase has been described as “shocking” and prompted concerns that those already employed through recruitment agencies will have an unfair advantage in gaining permanent posts.
New figures show there were 4,015 workers employed through agencies in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 2024 – an increase of more than 1,000 on the previous year.
The increase can ostensibly be attributed to a hike in agency workers’ numbers at the Department of Communities (DfC), which rose by 1,030 to 3,001 last year.
However, the Department of Finance (DoF) said there were a number of contributing factors, including a previous embargo on recruiting permanent staff, servicing a contract with the Department of Work and Pensions and temporary pressures arising from Brexit.
The overall cost to the public purse of employing agency workers, which includes wages along with fees paid to recruitment companies, is not known but it’s thought to run into tens of millions of pounds.
According to the DoF, which at the end of March last year had 177 agency workers on its books, expenditure on what it terms “temporary workers, contract staff and recruitment agency workers” was more than £6m in the last full financial year.
The department told The Irish News that the use of agency staff was “a cost effective and necessary way to manage some time-bound and project aspects of temporary work and to meet particular business needs”.
DUP MLA Michelle McIveen, who was provided with the agency worker numbers by Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald after submitting a written assembly question, said the figures which indicated a “significant spike” last year compared to previous years were “shocking”.
“Further questions need to be asked exploring the reasons for the rise – were these staff engaged this way as a result of short term contracts, sickness, maternity or poor employment planning?” she said.
The Strangford MLA voiced concern over the “risk that the use of agency staff may circumvent open recruitment processes”.
Ms McIlveen said she had requested information on the number of agency staff ultimately filling permanent roles but was advised there are no current records.
“Agency staff can be hand-picked at the initial stage and then potentially favoured when the permanent recruitment process is carried out as they are in situ,” she said.
“It may result in less capable staff being retained and a restriction in the pool of talent being accessed.”
The former minister said the Audit Office and head of the regional civil service needed “to look at urgently” at the lack of comprehensive records relating to agency staff.
