Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to re-open the panel arising from the confined executive officer competition 2006 which was closed in June 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10920/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Finance Circular 26/2006 sets out details of the confined competition for promotion to Executive Officer in the Civil Service. The terms of the Circular did not envisage appointments being made from the competition after 30 June 2008. For operational reasons this panel was extended until 30 June 2009.

In the context of the implementation of savings measures on public service numbers, in March 2009 the Government announced a Moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service. With regard to the Moratorium, my Department decided that it would not be appropriate to seek any further extension to the panel set up under Circular 26/2006 and the panel closed on 30 June 2009. This is in line with the policy applying to promotion panels for other civil service grades where panels for promotion to the grades of Higher Executive Officer, Assistant Principal Officer and Principal Officer have also closed in 2009. I do not have any plans to re-open this or any other closed panels.