Vol. 566 No. 4
180 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Defence the requirements as advertised for psychologists to assist in a recruitment campaign; the reason the applicants had to be licensed by SHL; the tests involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13129/03]
The Defence Forces invited tenders for the supply of products and services to support the Army and Naval Service cadetship recruitment process for 2003.
The advertisement specified that the successful tender was required to meet and fulfil all of the following criteria: be trained to the British Psychological Societys or BPS accredited level in the use and interpretation of psychometric instruments; can provide training to the same BPS standards; will supply specified Saville and Holdsworth Ltd. (SHL) Personality and Aptitude Test instruments; be an accredited training provider in the use of SHL testing materials; have prior experience working with Defence Forces or in similar contexts either nationally or internationally; be a registered user of SHLs ability and personality testing instruments; facilitate the provision of familiarisation information to applicants in a variety of media, including paper and web-based formats; possess the facilities to quickly turnaround psychometrics data, automated scoring and report production, into an objective and consistent format that is easily digestible to non-BPS trained users; the ability to map psychometric data outputs onto the established Defence Forces selection criteria; should demonstrate the ability to work with, generate and apply Irish Defence Forces normative data; and an ability to support an ongoing Defence Forces validation study.
The requirements are necessary because the Defence Forces cadetship selection process includes psychometric tests and only registered persons may use such aptitude tests, interest inventories and personality questionnaires. Applicants had to be licensed by Saville and Holdsworth Ltd. (SHL) as the Army and Naval Service use specified tests produced by SHL and it is a requirement of SHL that they are so licensed.
