The Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Northern Ireland Audit Office have been urged to investigate the recruitment of civil service agency staff to ensure the system is not being abused, reports The Belfast Telegraph.

It comes as the finance minister released figures to Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Michelle McIlveen showing that the number of agency staff employed by the NICS has jumped from 2,571 in 2020 to 4,015 in 2024. That is a 56% increase over five years. McIlveen said the figures provided show there has been a “significant spike” in the recruitment of agency workers for 2024.

“Agency staff can be handpicked 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. There is a need to ensure that processes are open and fair. The failure to keep records of this means that this is not an issue being monitored and potential abuses are not being identified.”

According to McIlveen, further questions need to be asked, including exploring the reasons for the rise and whether they were engaged this way as a result of short-term contracts, sickness, maternity or poor employment planning.

“However, there is a risk that the use of agency staff may circumvent open recruitment processes when these posts become permanent so any increase at such a scale is shocking,” she said.

A Department of Finance spokesperson told the Belfast Telegraph in a statement that all appointments are made based on merit and are free from personal or political partiality.

“Like many large organisations, the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) uses agency workers to carry out work which for a variety of reasons cannot be completed by substantive NICS staff,” the spokesperson said, adding that agency workers are entitled to a parity of pay and annual leave as part of the Agency Worker contract.”