Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
252. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a qualification achieved in a university (details supplied) meets the requirements for the criteria outlined for senior executive engineers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27863/26]
View answerSection 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with the power to declare qualifications of such classes and descriptions as he or she thinks fit for a specified employment under a local authority or for such of the employments as belong to a specified class, description or grade.
In April 2024, my Department established a Working Group to review the existing suite of engineering qualifications for engineering roles in the local government sector and to propose changes to those qualifications where necessary. The Working Group carried out an in-depth analysis and review of the engineering qualifications through engagement with local authorities, key stakeholders, academic experts and other interested parties. Following the conclusion of the work undertaken by the Working Group which recommended a number of changes and a consultation process with the relevant public sector unions about the proposed changes, revised qualifications for engineering posts were declared on 25 July 2025 and are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/qualifications-for-local-authority-employees/
The declared qualifications in themselves are clear in what the minimum educational requirements are and provide improved clarity for candidates in this regard. For instance, the declared qualifications for Senior Executive Engineer state that criteria for evaluating the educational requirements to fulfil the educational criterion "hold an honours bachelors degree (level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) in Engineering accredited at CEng or CEng with FL level by Engineers Ireland" will be set out in the Information Booklet associated with the relevant competition. Providing further details in the information booklet for competitions for posts at these grades ensures that prospective applicants are clear in terms of what the declared qualifications require in respect of this particular educational criterion.
My Department has no role in assessing if a particular qualification meets the eligibility requirements set down in the declared qualifications for a particular post. It is a matter for the recruiter, which is either a local authority or public jobs depending on the grade and tenure of the post being applied for, to assess eligibility as part of the recruitment process.
