Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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431. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason for the decision to outsource testing for recruitment to the Civil Service to two UK firms (details supplied), the reason an Ireland-based company or the PAS, Public Appointments Service, are not performing this function; his views that these firms are best-placed to conduct this testing. [31836/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is independent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in the carrying out of its functions including in relation to decision-making on testing for recruitment to the civil service.  Recruitment generally is subject to the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions in the Civil Service.      

My Department has been advised by PAS that for each recruitment campaign, PAS identifies appropriate assessment tests.  For particular competitions PAS may determine the requirement for tests to be provided externally in light of factors, such as, for example, the number of applicants, the specific requirements to be assessed and the specialist testing tools available in the open market.

In such circumstances an appropriate external test provider may be identified by PAS following a comprehensive procurement exercise where the proposed tests are examined in detail to ensure that they are robust and fair measures. Cost is also considered as part of the procurement process. The procurement process is a competitive one and it is the tender that gets the highest score across the board that is successful.  

PAS is committed to achieving value for money in the procurement of supplies and services essential to support its work in providing high quality service to the public in a cost effective and efficient manner. Procurement by PAS takes place in the context of EU Directives  and is supported by Procurement Guidelines. The guiding principles for procurement are transparency and openness of competition.  In an EU context, discrimination on the basis of the geographic location of a service provider is not permitted.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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432. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will indicate, in each case where the civil and public service recruitment embargo has been relaxed throughout the course of the embargo, if the 3% target under the positive opportunities scheme was met; if the scheme was taken into consideration at all for each of these cases; if he will provide relevant data in tabular form for each case where the recruitment embargo was relaxed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31851/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I understand that the Deputy's question relates to employment opportunities for people with a disability in the civil and wider public service.

The moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service was introduced in 2009, as part of the response to the fiscal and economic crisis. In tandem with annual headcount targets set for each area of the public service under the Employment Control Framework, the moratorium was applied across the entire public service. As the Deputy will be aware, the two instruments  played a central role in helping to bring the cost base of the public service into line with the State's funding resources.

Exceptions to the moratorium, where they arose, were made on the basis of the specific requirements of the particular posts to be filled rather than, for example, the disability status of any applicant.  In addition, a number of Departments and Offices in the civil service are participants in the Willing Able and Mentoring (WAM) Programme which is a paid mentored work placement programme aimed at graduates with disabilities. This programme was not subject to the moratorium. 

In my Expenditure Statement in October 2014, I  announced that the moratorium would be replaced with new delegated management arrangements to be phased in during 2015. These delegated arrangements are designed to give public service managers the means to respond to service needs as they arise, including considerable flexibility to make staffing and service delivery decisions.

Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets a 3% target for the employment of people with disabilities in the public sector.  As part of my responsibilities as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have overarching responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment of public servants.  However, specific policies relating to the employment of persons with disabilities in each of the sectors of the public service, other than the civil service, are dealt with by the appropriate responsible Minister.

The following table summarises the statistics shown in the National Disability Authority (NDA) reports in relation to the number employed in Government Departments.  The latest report published is for 2013.  The Deputy may wish to note that, notwithstanding the recruitment moratorium the civil service met the 3% target every year in the period in question.