Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 May 2026
652. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the position regarding any mechanism in place within his Department that allows for civil servants to transfer on secondment to an equivalent role within the European Union, without negatively impacting their pension and other employment rights; his views on the merits of such a scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34418/26]
View answerThe department supports the Government initiative "A Career for EU”, Ireland’s strategy to increase Irish representation in the European Union's Institutions and Agencies and the policy in this department is to release officers on secondment to work in the EU Institutions.
The department promotes opportunities such as Seconded National Expert (SNE) positions and National Expert in Professional Training scheme opportunities where these vacancies closely align with the strategic relevance of this departments remit.
SNEs provide EU and international institutions with specialised expertise from Member States' administrations, while fostering knowledge exchange with national authorities. There are two officers currently seconded to the European Commission in SNE posts.
Additionally, this department has six officers seconded to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade working in the Permanent Representative to the EU in Brussels to support the 2026 EU presidency. These secondments provide officers with opportunities to influence policy-making, gain international experience, broaden their skills and professional networks while retaining the right to return to their substantive or equivalent position in the department at the end of the secondment
All officers seconded from this Department to the EU continue to be treated as staff members of this Department for the purposes of internal competitions, pay and progression (including progression to higher scales), incremental credit (subject to satisfactory performance) and reckonable service. The secondees also continue to be members of the Department's pension scheme and pay all contributions based on their substantive grade. Pension benefits are based on the pensionable remuneration of their substantive grade i.e. the grade at which the individual is employed in the Department.
