asked the Minister for Finance whether any estimate has been made as to the number of examinations likely to be held in the current year by the Civil Service Commission and the Local Appointments Commission respectively; whether he is aware that the estimate for advertising examinations held by the Local Appointments Commission is £1,000, and if he can state the reason why the cost of advertisement of the examinations of the Local Appointments Commission should exceed the cost of advertising the examinations of the Civil Service Commission by £850.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - COST OF ADVERTISING EXAMINATIONS.
I am aware of the difference referred to in the estimates for advertising under the heads of Civil Service Commission and Local Appointments Commission.
In both cases, the estimate covers the cost of competitions held by the Commissioners, whether by means of written tests or by selection boards. The competitions for the Civil Service are mainly written competitive examinations; those for Local Appointments are nearly all by way of selection board. The number of written examinations likely to be held by the Civil Service Commissioners in the current financial year is 18 and it is estimated that the number of different appointments to be filled by selection boards under those Commissioners will not exceed 12—a total of 30 requiring advertisement in the year.
The number of posts advertised by the Local Appointments Commission since the 1st April last, for which there was a written test, was 2, and those advertised for which there were selection boards only was 108. Applications for the filling of 33 further Local Appointments, that must be advertised, are at present in hand. In the first three months of the current year, therefore, there have been 143 cases requiring advertisement for Local Appointments. The number of such further advertisements that will arise before the end of the year is dependent on the occurrence of vacancies, and the proportion thereof for which statutory requests to recommend a candidate may be received by the Commissioners.
The difference in cost of advertising for the two Commissions is due to the fact that posts to be filled by means of selection board have to be advertised individually; that such posts represent a small portion of the work of the Civil Service Commission, but almost the entire work of the Local Appointments Commission; and that for Local Appointments the advertisements have to be inserted in the Press of the localities where the posts exist as well as in the Dublin Press. Advertisements in the Dublin Press alone usually suffice for Civil Service appointments.