Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2017
366. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on whether the standardised test of high-speed verbal and numerical reasoning administered as part of the Civil Service recruitment process discriminates against persons with mental health or neurological conditions which impinge on their ability to complete such high-speed tests that are otherwise highly qualified for recruitment. [27047/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is an independent, statutory body which provides professional recruitment and selection services to the civil service.
I understand from PAS that they use verbal and numerical reasoning tests, alongside other assessment tools, for Civil Service roles such as Clerical Officer, Executive Officer, Third Secretary and Administrative Officer. The reason for using these types of test is that there is a very significant body of international research which provides evidence that they are the most effective techniques to predict job performance.
There are a wide range of mental health or neurological conditions and they all impact on individuals in different ways. A number of neurological conditions are on a spectrum. Therefore, the condition will affect different people in different ways.
The PAS offers reasonable accommodations for people who have a disability. There is a Charter of Positive Supports for Candidates with Disabilities which is available on www.publicjobs.ie. One of the Principles in the Charter is:
1. “PAS will positively support candidates with disabilities in requesting reasonable accommodations and will assess all such requests through a transparent, good-practice process which is consistently applied.”
Through a process of allocating reasonable accommodations, the PAS engages with individual applicants to identify the most suitable accommodations for their particular condition.
