Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 Dec 1974

Vol. 276 No. 7

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Civil Service Examination Subjects.

62.

Mr. Timmons

asked the Minister for the Public Service the subjects in which examination papers are set for entrants to each of the various grades in the civil service; and the subjects which are compulsory and those which are optional.

Mr. R. Ryan

The information sought is in the form of a statement which, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate with the Official Report.

Following is the statement.

Examination papers set for entrance to each of the various grades in the Civil Service. (The information refers to competitions held regularly).

NOTES: (a) Requirements for the various grades are reviewed each time a competition comes to be held;

(b) The information given hereunder is based on the requirements which applied at the most recent competition, revised to take account of the Government's decision that Irish tests would normally be optional rather than compulsory. However, in the case of the competitions marked ‘*', the Civil Service Commission are in consultation with the Departments concerned as to their precise requirements in the light of the new policy;

(c) In the column "Other tests", the reference "optional language test" refers to the test to be taken by candidates who wish to have an assessment made of their capacity to communicate effectively in Irish and English.

Grade	Examination Papers	Other Tests	Remarks
Subject	Obligatory or Optional
Driver Tester, Dept. of Local Government	Rules of the Road Working of mechanically propelled vehicles	Obligatory,,	Interview (Obligatory) Optional language test Driving test (obligatory)	Candidates who have passed the examination for this grade within the previous four years are not required to do the written test
Reporter, Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas	English Verbatim Reporting	Obligatory	Interview (obligatory) Optional language test
Architectural Assistant Grade II, Office of Public Works	Architectural Drawing	Obligatory	Interview (obligatory) Optional language test
Agricultural Officer	Paper I— Agriculture (including report writing)	Obligatory	Interview (obligatory) Optional language test
	Paper II— Agriculture	,,
Engineering Draughtsman in various Departments	Draughtsman- ship	Obligatory	Interview (obligatory) Optional language test
Student Engineer Grade II, Dept. of Posts and Telegraphs	Mathematics Physics	Obligatory,,	Interview (obligatory) Optional language test
*Junior Translator, Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas	Irish Essay ,, GrammarEnglishTranslation	Obligatory ,, ,, ,,	Interview (obligatory) Oral Irish test (obligatory)
*Assistant Keeper, National Library	FrenchGermanSpanishRussianItalian	Optional ,, ,, ,, ,,	Interview (obligatory) Oral Irish test (obligatory)
*Placenames Officer	Modern IrishMiddle IrishOld Irish	ObligatoryOptional ,,	Interview and Oral Irish test (obligatory)
Assistant Editor, Dept. of Education	Irish Essay,, GrammerTranslationEnglish Essay	Obligatory ,, ,, ,,	Interview (obligatory) Oral Irish test (obligatory)
*Librarian, Dept. of Education	FrenchGerman	Optional ,,	Interview (obligatory) Oral Irish Text (obligatory)
*Court Stenographer Dept. of Justice	Verbatim Reporting in EnglishTypewriting	Obligatory ,,	Interview (obligatory)
	Test Verbatim Reporting in Irish	Optional
* Archivist, Public Records Office and State Paper Office	Irish	Obligatory	Interview(obligatory)
One or more of the following:—
FrenchGermanItalian orSpanish	Optional	Oral Irish test(obligatory)
Prison Officer Dept of Justice	Arithmetic Either English and General or in Irish	Obligatory One of these is obligatory	Interview (obligatory) Optional Optional language test.	Candidates who have passed certain examinations are exempt from the written examination.
Clerical Officer	Irish English Mathematics	Either of these obligatory obligatory
Assistant Officer of Customs and Excise	As for Clerical Officer	do.
Executive Officer (School Leavers)	General Paper Ido.II	ObligatoryObligatory and also a pass in the Leaving Certificate examination held in the same year in either Higher Course Irish or English, and in Higher or Lower Course Maths. The grading in two other higher course subjects is also taken into account.	Interview(obligatory)	Candidates must take the Leaving Certificate examination in the same year as the competition is adversed.
Executive Officer (Adult)	General Paper Ido.II(Psychological Test)	Obligatory (but see notes)	Interview (obligatory)	Graduates are exempt from General Paper I
*Mapping Draughtsman*Mapping Assistant	Draughtsman ship (2 papers) Irish	ObligatoryOptional
Key Punch operator	Aptitude Test	Obligatory	Interview (obligatory)
*Junior Postman	Irish	Obligatory
	English	Any two of
	Arithmetic	these three
	Geography	obligatory
Clerical Assistant (written)	Arithmetic Irish English	Obligatory Either of these obligatory
Clerical Assistant (interview)	Arithmetic Written English and general or a corresponding written test in Irish	Obligatory,,	Interview (obligatory)
Clerical Assistant (Shorthand)	Irish Typing and Shorthand	Must pass in either the Irish or the English tests
	and/or English Typing and Shorthand
Clerical Assistant (Typing)	Irish and/or English Typing	Must pass in either the Irish or the English test
Communications Assistant, Dept. of Transport and Power	As for Clerical Assistant (Typing)
Post Office Clerk	ArithmeticIrishEnglish	ObligatoryEither of these is obligatory
Post Office Clerk (Lucht na Gaeltacha)	IrishEnglishArithmetic	ObligatoryOptionalObligatory	Oral Test in Irish (obligatory)
*Technician Trainee Dept. of Posts and Telegraphs	IrishEnglishMaths IMaths II orMechanical Drawing	Obligatory,,,,Either of these obligatory	Interview(obligatory)Oral test in Irish(obligatory)