Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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383. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if recruitment to the Office of the Ombudsman is done on an open basis or is restricted to existing civil servants. [19401/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Recruitment to the Office of the Ombudsman is not restricted to existing civil servants. Generally speaking, recruitment to Clerical and Executive Officer grades has been from general panels established by the Public Appointments Service, which in turn have been formed by means of either open public competition or confined civil service promotion competitions.

In relation to recruitment to the grade of Investigator (Assistant Principal Officer) and Senior Investigator (Principal Officer), the recruitment methodology is dependent on the requirements of a particular role, the availability of staff from the Public Appointments Service open and interdepartmental panels and the agreed sequence for recruitment and promotions as determined by the current recruitment policy.  

Early in 2015 the Office recruited two specialist Investigators in Health Care and Social Work. There were open public competitions for the posts in question, through the Public Appointments Service, for persons with the requisite qualifications and experience in the relevant areas. In the past, the Office has also recruited for generalist Investigator posts either by means of special open competition or from confined civil service promotions panels formed by the Public Appointments Service. Some Investigators were recruited by means of the secondment, through the Public Appointments Service, of serving civil servants in Assistant Principal grades.