Written answers

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Department of Finance

Public Sector Staff Recruitment

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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193. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason staff who had multiple renewals of temporary contracts working for the Revenue Commissioners in Ennis, County Clare were not awarded permanent contracts, and to make a statement regarding this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3405/15]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the temporary staff in question were recruited to carry out work associated with the introduction of Local Property Tax (LPT). The task of introducing this new tax, the largest extension of the self-assessment system in the history of the State, posed major administrative challenges. The staffing model for its introduction was built on flexible deployment, which included recruiting additional staff on a temporary basis.

The temporary staff in Ennis were employed on fixed-term contracts which specifically stipulated that their employment would end on a specific date or when the task for which they had been employed was completed. In accordance with their contracts, employment of these temporary staff will cease on 27 March 2015.  

The recruitment and appointment of permanent staff in Revenue is regulated by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA). All recruitment for permanent clerical positions in Revenue must be carried in accordance with the recruitment licence granted by the Commission. The licence held by Revenue does not provide for the awarding of permanent contracts to these staff on the basis of their temporary employment.

In January 2014 Revenue ran a competition which enabled serving temporary Revenue staff, including those in Ennis, to fill a number of permanent posts.  More recently, the Public Appointments Service held an open clerical officer competition which closed in July 2014. Temporary Revenue staff were eligible to apply for this competition. Revenue will recruit from this panel to fill permanent clerical officer positions as they arise.

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