John V. Farrelly
Question:145 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice if there will be an examination for recruitment to the prison service, if so, when, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Prison Service Recruitment.
Recruitment to the prison service is by way of open competition conducted by the Civil Service Commission. Such competitions are, in the normal course, advertised in the national newspapers. The last time such a competition was advertised by the Civil Service Commission was in July 1990. Qualifying written tests were conducted during October 1990 and candidates who attained sufficiently high placings in those tests had competitive interviews.
To date, 180 successful candidates have been appointed from the competition and there is a panel from which further successful candidates may be called. There are no plans at present to hold a new competition.