Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 October 2014
6. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to tackle the increasing age profile across the civil and public services; his plans to take steps to encourage skilled public servants who have emigrated to return here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38163/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI share the Deputy's concern regarding the age profile of the civil and public service. As much as any organisation, it is important to seek to ensure that the demographic profile of staff working in the public sector is appropriately balanced. Unfortunately, the severe restrictions it has been necessary to apply to recruitment into the civil and public service on account of the impact of the economic and budgetary crisis, have contributed to an ageing public sector workforce. As this situation reflects developments over a number of years, it is clearly not susceptible to immediate solutions. Moreover, as the Deputy will be aware there are important legal and regulatory requirements that preclude discrimination on the basis of age in civil and public service recruitment. For example, recruitment to the civil service takes place under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The Act sets out that recruitment competitions be run under the Codes of Practice published by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA). The Codes set out that recruitment processes be conducted in manner which is fair, open and merit based. Consequently, it is not possible under the CPSA Codes to restrict a candidate's access to a competition on the basis of age.
I believe the key to addressing this issue lies in the further development of the workforce planning process included in the Government's Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016 by providing robust evidence on future staffing requirements. The key principle of workforce planning is having the right number of people with the right skills in the right jobs at the right time. It requires organisations to focus on the range of skills they need to deliver on their objectives and to identify emerging skills gaps, whether arising from staff turnover or from changes in the external environment which may require new skillsets. Workforce planning, therefore, assists public bodies to identify the number of staff and the skills and experience required and provides the basis on which planned and structured recruitment campaigns can be initiated which are likely to help re-balance over time the age profile across the public service.
Recruitment competitions are open to all qualified candidates, including those previous public servants who have emigrated. The Deputy may be aware that the Public Appointments Service does seek in advertising recruitment opportunities to ensure that the information is available and the recruitment process is accessible to qualified candidates whether they are residing in Ireland or elsewhere.
