Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2024
246. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the number of appointments made from the 2022 principal officer panel in the past 12 months; the number of appointments made to this grade in the same period by way of internal competitions; and the way these figures accord with his Department's policy of a 2:1 ratio in favour of open competitions. [41240/24]
View answerI am advised by publicjobs (formerly the Public Appointments Service -PAS-) that it assigned a total of 15 candidates from the Principal Officer 2022 panel between October 10th 2023 and October 10th 2024. I am further advised by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) that the figure for Principal Officer internal competitions from Departments under its remit was 63 appointments in 2022.
It should be noted that under section 47 of the Public Service (Recruitment and Appointments) Management Act 2004, Departments/Offices may undertake recruitment under their own licence. This may increase the number of Principal Officers recruited through open / external competitions. Not all of the data in relation to these competitions are available centrally and this, in addition to other factors such a appointments through mobility, impacts the extent to which the Department can report on sequencing ratios.
However, with respect to the practical application of sequencing ratios, the policy of Delegated Sanction, in place since 2015, is subject to compliance with certain conditions, one of which is adherence to sequencing agreed with staff associations.
