Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will clarify the position in relation to the requirements of successful candidates for employment as prison officers to have their leaving certificate; and if it is possible for a candidate who does not have a leaving certificate to qualify for a position as a prison officer when they hold a national craft certificate at FETAC 6 level. [16848/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In the most recent recruitment campaign for appointment as a Recruit Prison Officer in the Irish Prison Service, to be eligible for selection it was required that candidates have obtained,

(a) a minimum of five subjects in the Leaving Certificate Established examination or Irish Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, or

(b) the Merit Grade in the Applied Leaving Certificate programme, or

(c) like grades which are equivalent to those outlined at (a) and (b) above in another examination or assessment of a kind, that in the opinion of the Public Appointments Service is not of a lower standard than the above. Acceptable standards of English and/or Irish are required in each case.

To determine whether a National Craft Certificate at FETAC level 6 is an acceptable alternative to the Leaving Certificate, the subject matter of the FETAC award would need to be considered in order to ascertain whether the broad requirement of five subjects, including English and/or Irish, is met.