Robert Troy
Ceist:175. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Finance the details of the recruitment process for new customs officials. [14164/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 26 March 2019
Ceisteanna (175)
Freagraí scríofa
In September 2018, the Government granted approval in principle for the phased recruitment of an additional 600 Revenue staff to meet the challenges posed by Brexit. Budget 2019 provided Revenue with the funding needed for 270 of the additional 600 staff to be recruited during 2019 to manage an orderly UK withdrawal.
Following a Government decision to give greater priority to the preparations for a No Deal Brexit in December 2018, it was agreed to accelerate Revenue’s recruitment plans. Revenue has appointed over 400 staff from open recruitment and interdepartmental competitions since the start of 2019. And these staff will have completed their necessary training by 15 April 2019 in preparation for Brexit.
These posts have been filled from open, interdepartmental and internal Revenue competitions, as well as redeployment of staff within Revenue. An open recruitment campaign for trade facilitation roles was undertaken by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) in October 2018, this attracted more than 3,000 applications. This competition was advertised on the PAS website (publicjobs.ie) and on the Revenue website to ensure that recruitment is from the widest pool of available talent and experience. Revenue also held 6 internal competitions for existing Revenue staff at Higher Executive Officer, Executive Officer and Clerical Officer level for assignment to trade facilitation roles. Candidates were selected using methodologies such as on-line testing and competitive interviews to facilitate the identification of the best candidates. Recruitment for appointment to positions in Revenue is subject to the provisions of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act, 2004 and is regulated by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) and subject to the CPSA Codes of Practice.
As serving staff are taking up their new Brexit related positions, Revenue is backfilling the vacancies created through panels of candidates established from its general recruitment activity.
In the event of a no-deal Brexit, Revenue plans to appoint a further 200 staff during the rest of 2019. This would bring the total additional staff recruited to the 600 staff required to deal with the UK withdrawal from the EU.