Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 22 Jun 1994

Vol. 140 No. 16

Adjournment Matters. - Library Assistant Post.

Miss Ormonde

As a career guidance counsellor by profession, many of my constituents have approached me on this matter as they presumed I would be knowledgeable regarding the requirements for the position of librarian assistant in Dublin city, County Dublin or countrywide. The requirements stipulate that the applicant must have attained at least two grade Cs at higher level in the leaving certificate examination before being called for the competition for librarian assistant. Success in the competition leads to interview stage and success at that stage leads to placement on a panel.

A woman contacted me regarding this stipulation to advise that, despite the fact that she has her Leaving Certificate, in addition to a diploma in librarianship from UCD, she did not qualify for the position of librarian assistant as she did not have at least two grade Cs at higher level in the leaving certificate examination. The reason for this was that she matriculated into college by combining her results from both the leaving certificate and matriculation examination.

The Minister should review this stipulation as it is unfair that people should be deprived of the possibility of being considered for assessment at interview for this position, given that some of them, with a diploma in librarianship, are so well qualified. This is especially the case, given that the position under consideration is that of librarian assistant, not assistant librarianship.

On the point of job titles, the terminology used is confusing. One post is a grade V, while the other post is a grade III. In this respect communication lines must be made clearer for the benefit of the public.

Another stipulation for this position is that the applicant must obtain the necessary results on one sitting of the leaving certificate. In this respect, there are many students returning to second chance education. What happens in the case of those students operating through the VTOS programme, who may have to obtain their leaving certificate by taking a couple of subjects per year? Will they be deprived, through these regulations, of consideration for the position of librarian assistant and of getting into the Civil Service?

These regulations and stipulations must be reviewed and there must be an examination made of how best they may be changed. There are many people who, under the encouragement of my guidance and counselling, would take a diploma in librarianship, following which they may have a better chance of being called, through interview, to the Civil Service or to the libraries of the corporations and county councils. However, at present they will not be considered if they do not have two grade Cs at higher level obtained at one sitting of the leaving certificate examination, not matter how highly qualified they are.

The Minister should change the requirement to two grade Cs at higher level obtained at the leaving certificate examinations, or higher qualification. This should then be sufficient for consideration, not alone for the competition but also for assessment at interview.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Stagg)

I thank Senator Ormonde for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline developments in this regard. I agree that there is a need for a review of the qualifications and particulars of office for the post of library assistant in the local authorities service.

The Senator will be pleased to note that a working group, consisting of representatives from local authorities, the County and City Manager's Association and my Department has already been established for the purpose of reviewing the qualifications and particulars of office concerned, and the remit of the working group extends to clerical recruitment grades also.

The Minister has a statutory function regarding the declaration of qualifications and the approval of particulars of office for local authority officer grades. Before proceeding to declare and approve amended qualifications and particulars of office, respectively, for the post of library assistant, the Minister will of course have regard to whatever conclusions are reached by the working group.

Consultations with staff interests are likely to arise also before matters are finalised. The existing qualifications and particulars of office date back to the late 1970s and it is clear that in the intervening period major changes have occurred which impact on recruitment requirements.

The most pertinent changes are the raising of recruitment age limits and changes in the educational system. In addition, the question of possible implications arising from our membership of the EU needs to be considered. Furthermore, in recent times the proportion of candidates presenting with third level qualifications has increased and the desirability of allowing credit to be given for such qualifications also needs to be addressed.

I will convey the views of the Senator to the working group to assist it in its deliberations and I hope that matters can be finalised without undue delay.