Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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125. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of persons in the Civil Service at the grade of principal officer or higher who entered the service other than through an entry level competition run by the Public Appointments Service or its predecessors; the grades of each; and the basis for the alternative recruitment decision. [11834/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, recruitment to the Civil Service is undertaken under the terms of the Public Service Management (Recruitment Appointments) Acts 2004, as amended, and is subject to the Codes of Practice set down by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) and is open to audit by them if they see fit.

The CPSA is responsible for setting standards for recruitment and selection, including promotion and is charged with monitoring compliance with those standards by all Civil Service bodies. The Codes of Practice issued by the CPSA provide for the core principles of probity and fairness, selection on the basis of merit and the implementation of best practice in recruitment and selection.

The 2004 Act also provides for the exclusion of appointments to certain posts from the provisions of the Act. Section 7 covers excluded positions generally and provides for the exclusion of appointments to a range of posts including:

- officer holders under the Constitution

- appointment made by the President

- appointment made by the Government

- appointment to the position of an officer of the Houses of the Oireachtas

- appointment to the position of special adviser

- appointment in the public interest

One of the key roles of the CPSA relates to the approval and monitoring of Excluding Orders for temporary non-established positions as provided for under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. In essence this means that section 8 of the Act empowers the Commission to exclude positions from the scope of the Act where the proposed appointment is for a specific position within a defined time period. The exclusion process is intended to be used where, for valid business reasons, recruitment needs to take place outside the provisions of the Codes of Practice.

I understand from the CPSA that the following exclusion orders were granted from 2011 to 2017.

I also understand that the information you requested about Principal Officers and above is listed below by year. This list is a subset of the data above.

2017

- Reviewer

- HR Manager (PO)

- Assistant Secretary (Witness in High Court Case)

- Deputy Director of Audit

- Principal Officer

2016

- Chief Medical Advisor (extension)

- Delivery Office Director

2015

- Chief Medical Advisor (extension)

- Director Mother and Baby Homes Commission

2014

- Principal Officer (extension)

- Principal Officer (extension)

- Chief Medical Advisor (extension)

- Director PeoplePoint (Contract extension PO)

- Parliamentary Counsel (extension)

- Government Chief Information Officer

- Director PeoplePoint (extension)

- Deputy Director Audit

- Deputy Chief Nursing Officer

- Parliamentary Counsel (extension)

- Chief Medical Advisor (extension)

- Chief Information Officer (extension)

2013

- Principal Officer

- Counsellor (PO)

- First Parliamentary Counsel

- Deputy Chief Medical Officer

- Principal Officer

- Head of Regulation, Insolvency Ireland

- Principal Officer (extension)

- Procurement Manager

- Chief Medical Advisor

- Deputy Director of Audit 

2012

- Commissioner of Valuation

- Early Years Specialist

- Governor

- Commissioner of Valuation

- Chief Medical Advisor

- Principal Officer

- Principal Officer

- Irish national delegate to UNEP (PO)

- Pharmacist and Technical Co-ordinator

- Assistant Secretary

2011

N/A

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of persons holding Civil Service positions above clerical officer grade in his Department who entered the Civil Service via a route other than through an open competition run by the Public Appointments Service or its predecessors; the grades of each; and the basis for the non-standard recruitment. [11863/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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All recruitment for my Department is conducted in accordance with the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) Codes of Practice. The Commission is the principal regulator of recruitment and selection processes within the Public Service. It has a statutory role to ensure that appointments in the organisations subject to its remit (those that fall under the authority and scope of the Commission) are made on candidates’ merit and as a result of fair and transparent appointment processes.

As well as open competitions conducted by the Public Appointment Service, recruitment can also take place through other means, i.e., Confined Competitions, Interdepartmental Competitions, Recruitment under our own Recruitment Licence and under Excluding Order from the CPSA. Recruitment can also involve lateral moves through Redeployment, Secondment or transfer/mobility. The following table shows current grades by number and recruitment method for all staff above grade of Clerical Officer in my Department who did not attain their position through Open Competition. :