Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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81. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a serious problem exists within the processes of the Public Appointments Service whereby persons who are working short-term contracts with one Department are being offered contracts with different Departments before the completion of their current contract, that, as a consequence of not being in a position to accept such offers, the PAS record this as a rejection of an offer, which carries a number of consequences for the person concerned; the reason it is possible for this error to repeatedly occur; if he will commit to compensate in some fashion those who have been forced into this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2103/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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82. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason a person (details supplied) was offered a 12 week contract of employment with the Department of Social Protection even though they were at the time engaged on a 15 week contract with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and had three weeks remaining; the reason, even though they were obviously not in a position to accept the Department of Social Protection's offer, this was recorded as a rejection within the PAS system; the consequences this has had for their future employment opportunities; if he will review this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2110/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 82 together.

Recruitment to the Civil Service and a range of other public bodies is handled under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 which established a central recruitment agency, the Public Appointments Service (PAS), for this purpose. The PAS operates under licence from the Commission for Public Service Appointments and is independent in its operations.

While the Deputy does not stipulate a particular competition, PAS has confirmed that the individual for whom details were supplied was a candidate for the Temporary Clerical Officer (TCO) campaign which is run annually to meet gaps arising on foot of term-time leave, maternity leave and other short-term staff needs.

In 2014, the TCO campaign attracted 13,200 applications. Given the scale of interest in the competition and urgency of temporary assignments, PAS does not have scope to delay if a candidate cannot take up duty promptly. The Information Booklet for the competition is clear in terms of the obligation on candidates to be available to take up duty when required and to see out the contract.

The needs of departments/offices seeking TCO cover are immediate and typically short-term and as such the system must be responsive. Given the size and complexity of the TCO competition with multiple regional panels and a fast moving process, it would not be feasible for PAS to keep track of candidates who are not available when required but may subsequently become available. 

In the specific case raised by the Deputy, the candidate had applied for both the TCO-2013 campaign and the TCO-2014 campaign. He was successfully placed on the panel for Dublin on both occasions. He was  assigned from the TCO-2013 panel in February 2014, which was quite late in the currency of that panel. As he performed better in the TCO-2014 competition and was placed higher on the panel for Dublin he was offered a position from the TCO-2014 panel in April 2014. The juxtaposition of a late offer from TCO-2013 and an early offer from TCO-2014 led to an overlap. However, it should be noted that the 2013 and 2014 TCO recruitment campaigns were entirely separate competitions. Candidates are entitled to apply for any number of concurrent PAS campaigns for permanent or temporary positions, but must ultimately make a decision on which offer to take if offers coincide.