Vol. 525 No. 2
376 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the position of unestablished officers with his Department; if he will consider that such officers, who have spent five years or more at that level, should be given the opportunity of promotion to the established officer level, so as to permit them make the appropriate contributions to their pension level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23869/00]
I understand that the Deputy is referring to unestablished officers serving in the grades of service officer, service attendant and cleaner. There are 13 such unestablished officers in my Department. Of those 13 officers, seven are unestablished for more than five years, five are unestablished for between two and five years and two are unestablished for less than two years.
I have no doubt that unestablished officers should be given access to established status. However, the whole issue of establishment is dealt with by the Civil Service Commission. Under section 13(1) of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956, it is not possible for any officer to become established without entering a competition for establishment held by the Civil Service Commission. The last competition for establishment was held in 1997 under Circular 5/97 – Competition for Established Appointments. The service requirement for eligibility for that particular competition was two years continued service at service officer, service attendant and cleaner grades.
377 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for Finance the impact on pay for a clerical officer (details supplied) serving in the Civil Service who is promoted to executive officer in the Civil Service by means of a confined competition or an open competition. [23870/00]
The rules dealing with starting pay on promotion are set out in Circular 34/77: Starting Pay on Promotion or Establishment. I will make a copy of this document available to the Deputy. I will also provide him with a copy of a subsequent letter to personnel officers of 29 July 1982 which deals with the starting pay of civil servants successful at open competitions for appointment to other Civil Service posts. The executive officer is a grade to which appointments are made from both open and confined competitions.
The different arrangements which apply in the two competitions can be broadly explained as follows. In confined competitions, the only applicants for a post are serving civil servants and the starting pay on promotion rules apply. In practice this means that successful candidates normally secure an immediate additional increment. In open competitions, serving civil servants compete with members of the public generally and this being the case, while arrangements are put in place to ensure that officers do not lose money, the competition regulations do not provide for starting pay on promotion terms as such provision would give serving civil servants a financial advantage vis-à-vis other successful candidates.
