Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
676. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1448 of 13 January 2026, and the reply if he will consider further correspondence (details supplied); to provide a reply to queries raised regarding new declared qualifications for engineering services in local authorities.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4390/26]
View answerThe Working Group established to review the qualifications for engineering posts in the local government sector did have regard to employees currently working as engineers in the sector and who may not meet the eligibility criteria set down in the qualifications declared under section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 in order to apply for recruitment competitions for advancement to higher levels.
The previous qualifications for engineering posts declared in 2017 were restricted to only an honours degree (level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)) in Engineering which did not take into account any further learning opportunities that an employee may have availed of or be willing to undertake.
The amended qualifications for engineering roles declared in July 2025 provide potential pathways to this cohort of employees to meet the eligibility requirements. The eligibility criteria in the qualifications for Assistant Engineer and Executive Engineer were amended in July 2025 to include at least an ordinary bachelors degree (level 7 or higher on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)) in Engineering and also a combination of at least an ordinary bachelors degree (level 7 or higher on the NFQ) and a post-graduate masters degree (level 9 on the NFQ) in Engineering. The qualifications for Senior Executive Engineer and above were amended to include an ordinary bachelors degree (level 7 or higher on the NFQ) in Engineering and a post-graduate masters degree (level 9 on the NFQ).
In addition, further flexibility was included with the addition of chartership as an optional criterion for grades at Senior Executive Engineer and above and there are a number of routes to chartership with Engineers Ireland including a further learning route and an experiental route.
The effect of these changes is that there are now more eligibility options available to those who may wish to seek to advance their careers in the local government sector.
Also, as advised in my reply to Question No. 1448 of 13 January 2026, the opportunity was taken in July 2025 to declare other new qualifications for posts analogous to Assistant and Executive Engineer in the fields of construction / project management, energy management, facilities management and fleet management. Declaring these new qualifications recognises the changing role of engineering in the sector and the evolving role of local authorities in terms of the range and variety of services now provided by local authorities.
It is important to note that an employee engagement process was undertaken over a number of months with the relevant unions prior to the declaration of revised qualifications in July 2025.
