asked the Minister for the Public Service if he will outline the categories of persons employed in the public service who by reason of the nature of the work they perform are debarred from participating in active politics or contesting local or parliamentary elections.
Written Answers. - Public Service Employees.
116.
The arrangements governing the involvement of civil servants in political activity are briefly as follows:
(1) Civil servants are not permitted to stand for election to either House of the Oireachtas, or to the European Parliament. This restriction applies to all categories of staff.
(2) Civil servants in the industrial categories and in manipulative, sub-clerical and manual grades are free to engage in political activity, subject to the general restriction in relation to parliamentary elections.
(3) Members of the clerical classes in the Civil Service, and civil servants in non-manipulative grades with salary maxima equal to or below the Clerical Officer maximum, may apply for permission to engage in politics on the same basis as the staff referred to at (2) but officers employed on par-ticular types of work may have their applications refused.
(4) All civil servants above the clerical level are debarred from engaging in politics, with the exception of members of Departmental grades in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. These grades have traditionally been enabled to stand for election, on a non-party basis, to local authorities below county council level.
As regards the categories indicated at (3) there have to date been no instances where permission to engage in politics was refused because of the type of work performed by the applicants.
As regards other areas of the public service, the only categories of staff which are subject to general restrictions on involvement in politics are members of the Garda Síochána and of the Permanent Defence Forces.