Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I note that recently the Secretary General of the Taoiseach's Department indicated that there was a need to bring in more expertise into the senior levels of the public service. Against that background, the Minister revealed that out of 70 competitions, just two were open competitions, neither of which produced anyone from outside the Civil Service. Does the Minister think there is a need to change the practice of recruitment so that more outsiders will begin to come into positions in the public service? Surely it is long past the time when we rely exclusively on home grown talent to come up through the ranks. If there is expertise and talent outside, the public service should avail of it. I recognise that the morale of people who wish to apply for these posts is at stake and everyone should have a fair chance, but zero out of 70 posts is an extraordinarily low and unacceptable percentage.

Does the Minister believe there needs to be more progress in opening up competition generally. Even 13 of the 70 coming from outside the sponsoring Department is an unacceptably low figure. We ought to have professionalisation of the Civil Service where skills in financial management or human resource management can be transferred between Departments. This silo approach to Departments is not acceptable. Will the Minister take up the suggestion of the Secretary General of the Taoiseach's Department and initiate a serious programme of reform in this area so that we will begin to see new talent in crucial areas? Clearly project management skills within the public service are seriously depleted relative to the task that must be addressed.

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