Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 May 2000

Vol. 519 No. 5

Written Answers. - Civil Service Recruitment.

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

84 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance the measures he will take to encourage people to pursue careers in the Civil Service; the further measures he will take to prevent the haemorrhage of qualified people from the Civil Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14290/00]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy):

There is no doubt that the current tight labour market, with an increased number and variety of opportunities available for those seeking employment, has impacted on the number of applicants for positions in the Civil Service. Like other competitors in the market the Civil Service Commission is having to change to adapt to this new era of choice to ensure it continues to attract top calibre recruits to a career path in the Civil Service.

I, as Minister, recognise that in this era of increased choice, there is a need to ensure that jobs within the Civil Service remain competitively attractive and that there is sufficient awareness of this fact amongst those considering their employment prospects. I also recognise that in this era of choice it is equally important to retain the good, qualified people who have already begun a career in the Civil Service.

In this regard, a number of initiatives have already been undertaken. It is worth mentioning that two marketing studies were commissioned, the first to research the public awareness and perceptions of employment-career opportunities in the Civil Service. The second tackled the issue of staff retention. Following from these studies, a high level team was established, the integrated marketing strategy work group, the objectives of which include the creation of an integrated marketing strategy for the Civil Service, the development of an effective retention policy in the light of current labour market situation and the development of a communications strategy. These initiatives acknowledge that we need to engage in a process of selling the Civil Service as a career which offers significant opportunities for interesting and satisfying work.

In addition, the Civil Service Commission has significantly increased its activities in the labour market in recent times. It now uses state-of-the-art CD ROM technology, improved press advertisement techniques, radio advertisements and various promotional materials for schools and colleges. It is ever present at major recruitment fairs and exhibitions.

The commission has been central in organising a public service open day, which is to be held in the RDS on Sunday 28 May. The Deputy has probably heard or read the advertisements about this. The open day will enhance the profile of both the Civil Service – with many of its Departments taking stands to show the diversity of career opportunities on offer – and indeed, of the wider public service.

Leaving the promotional aspects aside, analysis of the labour market has meant that the Civil Service Commission has had to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment process, especially for the key open grades of clerical officer and executive officer. Consequently, the Civil Service Commission has been running more targeted and more frequent competitions for a better penetration of the market. For example, in 1999 the Civil Service Commission, as part of the clerical officer recruitment drive, held five separate competitions, attracting some 10,000 applications in total. This grade has been suffering the largest recruitment and retention problems within the Civil Service. These clerical competitions are specifically targeted at various segments or sections of the labour market. The Civil Service Commission has, for instance, targeted persons with disabilities and former civil servants and organised competitions on the basis of the geographical area of the vacancies. This year has seen a continuation of this more focused recruitment approach.

The Employment Equality Act, 1998, provides for the elimination of age related remuneration which exists on certain Civil Service scales before October 2002. However, I have taken the opportunity to eliminate lower points on the clerical officer and executive officer scales from a current date. This goes further than is required by the legislation but it will have the effect of increasing the starting salary of these two key recruitment grades to the Civil Service. The higher starting salaries will feature in advertisements for the upcoming competitions for the two grades in question. I believe these changes will have a positive impact in attracting new recruits to those very important grades. They will also improve the position of recent recruits on the lower scale points.