Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
431. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason for the decision to outsource testing for recruitment to the Civil Service to two UK firms (details supplied), the reason an Ireland-based company or the PAS, Public Appointments Service, are not performing this function; his views that these firms are best-placed to conduct this testing. [31836/15]
View answerThe Public Appointments Service (PAS) is independent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in the carrying out of its functions including in relation to decision-making on testing for recruitment to the civil service. Recruitment generally is subject to the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions in the Civil Service.
My Department has been advised by PAS that for each recruitment campaign, PAS identifies appropriate assessment tests. For particular competitions PAS may determine the requirement for tests to be provided externally in light of factors, such as, for example, the number of applicants, the specific requirements to be assessed and the specialist testing tools available in the open market.
In such circumstances an appropriate external test provider may be identified by PAS following a comprehensive procurement exercise where the proposed tests are examined in detail to ensure that they are robust and fair measures. Cost is also considered as part of the procurement process. The procurement process is a competitive one and it is the tender that gets the highest score across the board that is successful.
PAS is committed to achieving value for money in the procurement of supplies and services essential to support its work in providing high quality service to the public in a cost effective and efficient manner. Procurement by PAS takes place in the context of EU Directives and is supported by Procurement Guidelines. The guiding principles for procurement are transparency and openness of competition. In an EU context, discrimination on the basis of the geographic location of a service provider is not permitted.
