asked the Taoiseach if he is aware that in the appointment of doctors applying for positions under the Department of Local Government and Public Health an apparently undue period elapses between the date of interview and the notification to them of the results sometimes causing such doctors serious inconvenience; and if he will arrange that in future no unnecessary delay will be made in communicating the results to them.
Written Answers. - Appointment of Doctors.
Before recommending a person to a local authority for appointment to an office to which the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926, applies, the Local Appointments Commissioners are bound by the terms of that Act to satisfy themselves that such person possesses the prescribed qualifications as to age, health, character, training and experience. To do this they must make a number of inquiries, subsequent to the interview, regarding the candidate they propose to recommend and it is consequently inevitable that in some instances a comparatively long period will elapse between the date of the interview and the notification of results to candidates. For example, the claims to certain experience made by the candidate placed first must be fully verified before he can be recommended for appointment. This verification may take a considerable time especially if some of the experience has been obtained abroad.
Candidates cannot be notified of the result of their applications until the Commissioners have issued their recommendation of the successful candidate to the local authority. Simultaneously with the issue of this recommendation the Commissioners notify the successful candidate that he has been recommended and then, within a few days, the unsuccessful candidates are notified. It is seldom possible to complete all the necessary preliminaries to the issue of a recommendation within a month of the date of the meeting of the interview board, and very often difficulties are met with which delay the completion of these preliminaries for a considerably longer time. Every effort is made, however, to avoid unnecessary delay.