asked the Minister for Finance whether he will state if it is a fact that Mr. Seán O'Driscoll, acting higher executive officer in the Department of Social Welfare, had less than seven years' actual experience in the normal work of the Civil Service, that his grade during this period was that of a junior executive officer, and that he was, in fact, continuously absent from such work for a period of over six years immediately prior to his promotion to the acting higher executive grade; and if, in view of these facts, he will disclose to the Dáil the reasons which actuated him in sanctioning the appointment of this officer to an acting post in the higher executive grade.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Appointment of Civil Servant.
On promotion to be an acting higher executive officer Mr. O'Driscoll had 13 years' service as executive officer—one-half of which was given almost entirely in the former Department of Local Government and Public Health and the other half on secondment as secretary to the Civil Service Executive and Higher Officers' Association. In accordance with the normal practice of general application, the two periods counted equally as service in the grade of executive officer. The reasons which actuated me in sanctioning Mr. O'Driscoll's appointment were that a certificate had been given by the then head of his Department that he was fully qualified and the best qualified of all the eligible officers and that all the other conditions appertaining to promotion had been fulfilled.