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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Nov 2000

Vol. 525 No. 2

Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Question:

385 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Finance the action the Civil Service Commission is taking to attract former civil servants, particularly women who had to retire due to the marriage bar, back into the service; if a recruitment drive is in place; and if so the criteria that are being used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24181/00]

My Department, which is responsible for overall manpower planning in the Civil Service, is keenly conscious of the fact that former civil servants are a potentially important source of recruits to the Civil Service. Consistent with this, the Civil Service Commission, which is responsible for hiring most civil servants, has taken action aimed at specifically targeting former civil servants in terms of recruitment. The key commission initiative in this regard was the announcement in late 1999 of a clerical officer competition confined exclusively to former civil servants to fill vacancies primarily in the Dublin area. This competition attracted 1,116 applications and has yielded several hundred new recruits. In light of this outcome, I expect that the Civil Service Commission will organise further recruitment competitions directed exclusively at former civil servants. These competitions may extend beyond clerical officer to other general service recruitment grades.

The encouraging response to the special clerical officer competition targeted at former civil servants may be attributed to several factors. One such factor is the facility for those recruited to combine previous and current service for the purpose of attaining the minimum period of service required for eligibility for promotion. The availability of flexible working arrangements in the Civil Service, including the job-sharing, career-break and term-time schemes, is also likely to have proved attractive to many of those who applied.
My Department is acting to build on these positive features of Civil Service employment so as to further enhance the attractiveness of the Civil Service to potential new recruits, including former civil servants. Subject to talks with the unions, a far-reaching work-sharing initiative, allowing staff to opt for a wide variety of working hours and working weeks is expected to be launched next year. Talks have also commenced with the unions on a proposed reform of the so-called central transfer list arrangements; ultimately this should allow more recruitment into locations outside Dublin, so increasing the opportunities for hiring staff in their preferred locations. The proposed decentralisation programme should also be helpful in this context.
On the basis of current schemes and planned developments, therefore, there are many positive features of Civil Service employment from the point of view of former civil servants. This fact, along with the proposed holding of further Civil Service Commission competitions confined exclusively to former civil servants, should facilitate the return to the Civil Service of many former civil servants, including those women who were obliged to retire due to the marriage bar.
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