Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions

Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service

4:00 pm

Ms Fiona Tierney:

It is not my area of expertise and it is not our area of responsibility other than to ensure there is no discrimination on the grounds of gender on any of the recruitment or promotion competitions we run. In the Public Appointments Service, we take an active view of the percentage of applications coming from the different genders, how they progress through the recruitment process and what ultimately emerges with the appointments to ensure there is consistency throughout the process and that nothing is discriminating against people as we go.

That said, publicly available information on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform website indicates that in the Civil Service, entry level grades are predominantly female and the most senior level grades are predominantly male. We have participation across various cross-functional working groups in the Civil Service to see how we can increase female participation rates in competitions for promotion. Most of those competitions are now open competitions. We are seeking ways to encourage women to put themselves forward for the more senior level positions.

Similarly, we are working in co-ordination with the Garda Síochána in terms of the more recently advertised campaign for recruitment as garda trainees to encourage women to apply because only one in four of the applications the last time around for the Garda Síochána came from women. It is keen for people of both genders and every nationality to apply.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.