Shay Brennan
Ceist:495. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the new criteria for executive engineers could be amended (details supplied). [73280/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 18 December 2025
Ceisteanna (495)
Freagraí scríofa
Section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides the Minister 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. A Working Group was established by my Department in April 2024 to undertake a review of the existing suite of engineering qualifications in the local government sector and to propose changes to those qualifications where necessary.
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 including Executive Engineer 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 revised qualifications including those for Executive Engineer will improve the ability of the sector to attract and retain high quality candidates with appropriate engineering qualifications, while also at the same time providing flexibility and consistency across the sector. Further information on the comprehensive review that was undertaken by the Working Group is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/policies/local-government/#review-of-engineering-qualifications-in-the-local-government-sector