Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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389. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of technical adviser positions being recruited by his Department; the number of applications received; the step by step process towards selection; the expected timeframe for completion of the current round of recruitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23163/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department does not recruit technical advisors. Advisory services for farmers are provided in the main by Teagasc.

My Department is recruiting for Technical Agricultural Officers. The post of Technical Agricultural Officer was advertised on 15 April 2016 and is being administered by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Department. Approximately 900 applications were received.

All applicants were invited to participate in stage 1 of the competition which consisted of remote online psychometric tests and took place during the week of 15-22 June. The first 150 candidates who were successful at stage 1 have been invited to attend the offices of the Public Appointments Service on 25-26 July for supervised verification tests. On the basis of the results of these tests, candidates will be invited to attend for interviews which are scheduled for August. Further batches of candidates may be called later.

Successful candidates will be placed on a panel from which my Department will recruit individuals to meet critical business needs.