Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Finance if the Public Service Appointments Commission would give special concession to a former employee who resigned their permanent post nine years ago and now find themselves in difficult circumstances (details supplied); if the PSAC would re-employ this person, even on a temporary basis, based on hardship grounds; and if there is any assistance available from the Civil Service Commission for former employees in such circumstances. [32862/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Recruitment to the Civil Service is governed by the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act, 2004. The Act provides for the establishment of the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) and of the Public Appointments Service (PAS). The CPSA establishes the standards of probity, merit, equity and fairness and other principles as they consider appropriate, to be followed, in the selection and recruitment of persons for positions in the Civil Service and other public bodies. The PAS provides a centralised recruitment, assessment and selection body for the Civil Service. The Act also provides for the issuing of recruitment licences to the Secretary General of a Department of State and to other designated officers in the Public Service, enabling a Department or Office to hold a recruitment competition.

Open recruitment competitions are, from time to time, advertised on the Public Appointments Service website at www.publicjobs.ie or as deemed appropriate in the national press. Application forms, together with all relevant details, are available when competitions are announced. Potential candidates can register their interest in a position on the Publicjobs.ie website and will then be automatically notified by e-mail when a competition is announced.

There is no provision in the legislation to allow the reinstatement to the Civil Service of a former civil servant other than by way of competition. Such persons wishing to rejoin the Civil Service must compete in the normal recruitment process i.e. they must compete successfully at an open recruitment competition run by the Public Appointments Service or such other competitions that may be run, under licence, by individual Civil Service Departments or Offices.