Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022
127. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Taoiseach the criteria used for employing the census enumerators; the way that the enumerators were picked; and the way that a decision made in circumstances in which a person worked as an enumerator in the past and was not selected on this occasion. [12678/22]
View answerAll of the recruitment for the census field operation is carried out by the CSO under licence by the Commission for Public Service Appointments and complies with their strict recruitment principles regarding fairness, equality, openness and transparency.
The census is employing 5,100 enumerators in areas all across the country. In selecting candidates for the positions of census enumerator, the CSO called over 12,700 people to interview and all applicants were assessed on the basis of their skills, abilities, and suitability for the post in question. An order of merit was established in each field area, based on the results of the interview process. The jobs were ultimately offered to the most qualified candidates. In some areas, there were large numbers of well qualified candidates and although people passed the interview and were placed on the order of merit, due to the number of positions available in the area, not all candidates were offered jobs.
