Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 June 2004
136 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Finance the reason for making a person sit an examination for the position of clerical officer in the public service for Dublin and making them sit a further examination if they wish also to go on the provincial list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19250/04]
View answer137 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Finance when the appointments to the provincial list positions of clerical officer in the public service will next be advertised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19251/04]
View answerI propose to answer Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.
The Civil Service Commission advertised a provincial competition for recruitment to clerical officer for appointment to 16 locations in March 2003. There were a total of 8,604 applications and a panel is in place for each of the 16 locations. Candidates can track the progress of the panels on the Civil Service website at www.publicjobs.ie. To date, 49 assignments to provincial locations have been made.
Vacancies in provincial locations are filled from two sources, existing transfer requests from civil servants and from panels set up for locations under provincial competitions run by the Civil Service Commission. There are no immediate plans to advertise another provincial campaign. In the medium to longer term, it will be necessary to consider the development of regional recruitment and promotion systems building on regional arrangements. This will be the subject of further discussions with the Civil Service unions.
The most recent Dublin competition was advertised in September 2003. There was a total of 3,703 applications and, to date, 158 assignments have been made. This is a separate competition with its own regulations governing the competition process. While some candidates may have applied for both the Dublin and provincial competitions, it is necessary for all candidates to undergo the selection process set out in the regulations for that particular competition. This is to ensure that all applicants for a competition go through the same recruitment process and the order of merit that is produced reflects the outcome of the selection procedures conducted from the eligible pool of candidates who applied for the post.
