Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 May 2026
300. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Defence the position regarding any mechanism in place within her 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; her views on the merits of such a scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34419/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is no provision that allows civil servants in my Department to transfer to an equivalent role within the European Union on a permanent basis without negatively impacting their pension and other employment rights. However, civil servants in my Department can apply for temporary positions under the Seconded National Experts (SNE) programme and the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) programme, both administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Participants of the SNE programme are sent for a specific amount of time to work in a European Commission or European Parliament directorate with the aim of bringing a national perspective or a subject matter expertise to a given unit's policy work, whenever there is a requirement for staff with unique skills such as technical, security, legal, financial expertise, among many others. They provide the European institutions with high-level professional expertise and promote mutual understanding between national administrations and the European institutions.
In addition, civil servants can also avail of the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) programme, which is a bi-annual training scheme where serving civil and public servants can have an opportunity to work in the European Commission for a period of 3 to 5 months. The scheme is generally most suited to officers at Administrative Officer, Higher Executive Officer and Assistant Principal Officer grades and equivalent Professional/Technical/Departmental grades.
Participants on the above programmes continue to be paid by their parent Department and retain their job and pension rights in the Irish public service for the duration of their secondment. In some cases, there is scope for salary costs to be reimbursed to the Department where the SNE position in question is considered of significant strategic value to Ireland through the Government’s Centrally Funded Scheme (CFS). Applications to the CFS are reviewed in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade before being reviewed by the Inter-departmental Committee on Staffing in International Organisations.
The NEPT and SNE programmes provide officials with a first-hand experience of working in the European institutions or EU agencies. The skills and experiences acquired by Irish officials during their secondments to Europe also has the potential to benefit the Department and facilitate greater understanding about the functioning of the European institutions. Participation in the SNE and NEPT programmes is also in line with the Government’s ‘A Career for EU’ strategy including that of raising the numbers of Irish officials serving in the EU Institutions.
