Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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586. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the case of a person (details supplied) who has been offered a position at the minimum entry point on a pay scale will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8555/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, it is the Chief Executive of each local authority who is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the Council. In this regard, it is a matter for the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council to ensure that the correct procedures are applied to starting pay on recruitment from open competitions.

In January 2011, my Department conveyed instructions through Circular 02/2011, set out below, to all local authorities in relation to a Government decision, that starting pay on recruitment from open competitions should be at the minimum point of the relevant scale.  It is open to a Chief Executive to make a business case to my Department should they feel a candidate's experience warrants a higher placing on a pay scale; however this is something that is only used in exceptional cases.

In 2015, my Department conveyed an instruction to local authorities through Circular 05/2016, also below, with regard to the scenario where a public servant moving from one public sector organisation to another retains their salary level if they are moving to a post that is analogous to the one they are moving from. However, from the details supplied, this scenario does not apply given it involves a downward grade move i.e. from Senior Quantity Surveyor to the grade below that, Executive Quantity Surveyor. The fact that the candidate is first on the panel bears no relevance or entitlement to their placing on an incremental scale; the same rules apply regardless of a candidate's position on a panel.

In this instance, it would appear that Dublin City Council has correctly applied the rules relating to starting pay.