asked the Minister for the Public Service the number of applications received in response to the most recent competition for the recruitment of prison officers; the number who qualified; the number who will be interviewed; the number of vacancies to be filled; the cost of the competition; and whether the applicants were charged an application fee.
Written Answers. - Recruitment of Prison Officers.
66.
The number of applications received for the current competition for prison officers was 3,735. The documentation issued in connection with the competition indicated that it was proposed to make at least 40 appointments; 2,442 candidates have undergone a written examination and 1,791 have qualified. Of these the top 324 are being invited for interview in the first instance. Following these interviews a panel will be set up from which existing and future vacancies may be filled. If this panel is used up, further candidates may then be invited for interview.
It is estimated that the cost of the competition, which is still in progress, will be of the order of £11,000 excluding staff costs. There was no application fee.
67.
asked the Minister for the Public Service if he is aware of the wide dissatisfaction with the outcome of the recent examination for recruitment to the prison service; if he is aware that candidates with seven honours and who achieved 75 per cent in the examination have not been called for interview; if he agrees that a computerised method of assessing results is not the most suitable method of selecting candidates for filling such crucial vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
A competition for prison officers, whose format was agreed with the Department of Justice, was advertised early this year by the Civil Service Commissioners and attracted 3,735 applications. Candidates underwent a written examination consisting of a paper designed to test candidates' ability in solving numerical problems, comprehension, reasoning and word power, and a second paper in which candidates were asked to write a passage on one of a number of selected topics.
The commissioners are not aware of dissatisfaction with the outcome of the written examination. The examination which was partially in the multiple-choice short-answer format is an efficient method of producing a fair and accurate result. The written examination was used as a screening test. The selection process also includes an interview.
Having regard to the number of likely vacancies, the top 324 candidates in the written examination are being invited for interview in the first instance. More candidates would be interviewed at a later stage if warranted by the number of vacancies requiring to be filled.