Authorisation for the hiring of lifeguards is expected to be cleared by the Department of Finance at a meeting on Thursday.
Newspaper reports that the country's beaches would be without up to 400 lifeguards this summer, because of the blanket ban on recruitment in the public sector, have been dismissed by officials.
In a statement today, the Department of Finance stressed the moratorium on public sector recruitment is to address the costs of permanent and pensionable public servants, which lifeguards are not.
The department is fully committed, it said, to ensuring that key safety personnel will be in place.
A meeting between the Department of Finance and the Department of Environment is expected to resolve the issue this Thursday.
Kerry and Cork Council Councils were among a number of local authorities who had written to the Department of Environment outlining their concerns about the impact of the moratorium on hiring temporary employees such as outdoor road crews and lifeguards.
