Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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118. To ask the Taoiseach the number of persons holding Civil Service positions above clerical officer grade in his Department that 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. [11865/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The majority of civil service positions in my Department above the clerical officer grade are either filled using panels set up by the Public Appointments Service or through secondment arrangements with other civil and public sector bodies.

Exceptions to this would be Special Adviser positions (to which Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act, 1997 applies) and posts filled by way of Excluding Order issued by the Commission for Civil and Public Service Appointments such as the post of Government Press Secretary, Deputy Government Press Secretary, Chief Strategist for the Independent Alliance, Political Coordinator for Independent Ministers in Government, etc.

There are nine Special Advisers employed by my Department: one at Deputy Secretary level; two at Assistant Secretary level; five at Principal Officer level; and one at Assistant Principal Officer (Higher) level.

There are eight positions in my Department which have been filled by way of Excluding Order: one at Assistant Secretary level; four at Principal Officer level; one at Assistant Principal Officer (Higher) level; and two at Higher Executive Officer level.