As the Deputy is aware, there is a recruitment and promotion moratorium in place in the civil service, local authorities, non-commercial state bodies, the Garda Síochána and the Permanent Defence Forces.
Decisions in respect of recruitment are taken by reference to the business needs of the relevant organisation, the moratorium on recruitment and promotion, and any redeployment arrangements in place for the civil and public service.
The current situation is that appointments at senior level are already open to external applicants. It is already the case that for some grades, more than one third of appointments are offered to external candidates.