asked the Minister for the Public Service the extent to which senior promotion posts in his Department are open to service wide competition irrespective of grade; the number of posts filled by persons from outside his Department since the competition was opened up; if he will give details of each promotion post in his Department which is not open to service wide competition; and the reason for the restriction in each case.
Written Answers. - Promotion Posts.
458.
Normally senior promotion posts in my Department are filled from within the Department. However, a number of such posts have on occasions been filled from outside the Department either by competition confined to civil servants or by competition open to all comers. As mentioned in reply to another question by the Deputy, officers have, for many years, been recruited from other Departments on a regular basis and are assigned to senior posts in my Department for periods of three to five years.
As Minister for the Public Service, I would favour the filling of a proportion of senior posts in all Departments by way of service-wide competition. In reply to a question on 19 May 1982 I stated that there have been negotiations with staff interests with a view to opening up certain higher posts in the civil service to inter-departmental competition. I would hope that these proposals can be brought into operation at an early date.