Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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225. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the publicjobs.ie recruitment campaign for technical agricultural officers; the place on the order of merit from stage 1 of candidates currently being called to stage 2; the number of candidates that have been employed; the number being recruited currently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2151/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The competition to recruit Technical Agricultural Officers was administered by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Department. The post was advertised on 15^thApril 2016 with a closing date of 5^thMay.

All applicants were invited to participate in online psychometric testing and the top 150 candidates were invited to attend for retest. Candidates who successfully passed the retest were invited to interview and a panel of 65 candidates was formed.

Offers of appointment are made strictly on the basis of a person’s placing on the panel in conjunction with the candidate’s preferred location as originally indicated on the application form. In the event that a candidate refuses an offer of appointment to a specific location, the candidate retains his placing on the panel but forfeits the right to be offered any further vacancy in that location. Where a candidate accepts an offer of appointment, he/she undergoes a clearance process that includes verification of qualifications and experience and Garda vetting.

To date the Department has notified 38 vacancies to PAS and the process of offering positions to persons on the panel is underway. 15 candidates have taken up employment in the Department while a further 15 candidates have accepted offers of appointment and are undergoing the clearance process.

It is envisaged that further vacancies at Technical Agricultural Officer will arise and that a second batch of candidates will be called to interview in due course.