Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
543. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when the panel for the Irish language executives in the Civil Service is expected to be cleared; the length of time an applicant on the panel will be expected to wait before being offered a position; the efforts being made to increase the number of jobs in the Irish language sector in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18330/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the independent recruiter for appointments to the civil service. All recruitment is demand-led and PAS undertakes competitions on behalf of the civil service to establish panels that may be drawn upon as vacancies arise in Government Departments or Offices.
Irish speaking candidates may apply for general civil service roles by way of specific bilingual competitions or, alternatively, they may apply for non-bilingual competitions and note their expression of interest for Irish-speaking or bilingual posts. Separate specialist competitions may also be held periodically for more technical roles that require Irish fluency such as Aistritheoir, Parliamentary Reporter and School Inspector.
An Irish language Clerical Officer (CO) competition was last held in 2019 and that panel has recently expired. I understand that PAS are presently making arrangements for a new Irish-language CO competition and that this expected to go live before the end of June. In the interim, demand for Irish language roles at CO level from Departments and Offices can be sufficiently met by PAS from the CO 2020 nationwide panel by assigning those candidates who indicated a proficiency in Irish at the application stage.
An Irish language Executive Officer (EO) competition was held in 2020 and a panel remains in place for assignments from this competition until September 2021 or until such time as a new panel is established. I understand that PAS will commence planning for a new Irish-language EO competition during Q3 2021.
It should be noted that the placement of any candidate on a particular competition panel is not an offer of employment. Recruitment is demand led and a panel may be drawn upon as and when vacancies arise during the lifetime of the panel.
There are no presently no targets for the number of new civil servants to be recruited that are proficient in Irish. The Deputy will be aware that the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019, currently before the Houses of the Oireachtas, proposes a 20% Irish language fluency target for all new hires to the public service by 2030 in line with our Programme for Government committments. The implementation of the Government’s Rural Development Strategy “Our Rural Future” that was launch in March by the Minister for Community and Rural Development, may also provide opportunities for Irish-speaking roles in the public service in the years ahead.
