Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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120. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to address concerns related to the local authority graduate programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19003/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Launched in 2015, the Local Authority Graduate Programme is designed to provide recently qualified graduates with the opportunity to acquire significant experience through working in a local authority and to benefit local authorities with the knowledge they have acquired in the course of their studies.

The selection process for the 2015 Programme was by competition, open to candidates from outside the local authority sector and those already working within the sector. Of the 119 graduates recruited, a total of 23 were existing local authority employees. At the end of the Programme existing employees of the local authority will return to their substantive role whilst those who have been recruited externally will be released. There is no provision for individuals on the Programme to extend the period of the Programme beyond the two-year period.

The Programme is developmental by nature, featuring a blend of both on–the-job and academic elements. The duration of the Programme has been designed to allow participants gain significant work experience while at the same time ensuring local authorities receive the benefit of the latest academic teaching within the areas for which the graduates are recruited. Additionally graduates are provided with accredited training in year two of their development programme with the professional body most relevant to the skills area in which they were recruited. Programme participants are paid €28,344 annually for the duration of the Programme.

Of the 119 graduates that commenced the development programme, in May 2015, a total of 23 graduates have obtained full-time employment elsewhere.