Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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411. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the European Court of Auditors report which advocates for an overhaul of the way in which the EU recruits to the EU Civil Service; if this could be of benefit to Ireland and the pending EU jobs strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36303/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the European Court of Auditors report to which the Deputy refers. The report makes a number of recommendations regarding the recruitment of staff to the EU’s Institutions. Recruitment to the EU institutions is carried out centrally by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO). EPSO regularly runs open competitions to recruit generalist and specialist EU civil servants.

It has become clear in recent years that there will soon be a significant reduction in the number of Irish officials in senior roles in the EU Institutions, as many high-ranking Irish officials will soon retire. At the current rates of recruitment of permanent staff, we are far below the replacement rate. This poses a serious challenge.

Significant work has been carried out by my Department to increase Ireland’s representation in the staffing of the EU’s Institutions, though it is clear that more needs to be done in this area. The Programme for Government commits to the development of a new strategy to increase the presence of Irish people in the senior ranks of the EU Institutions. We will also aim to increase the number of young Irish people applying for traineeships in the EU’s Institutions.

The new strategy will take into account any future changes to the EU’s recruitment processes, and the actions taken to promote EU careers and assist Irish candidates for EU jobs will also adapt to any changes that occur.

A public consultation on the new EU Jobs strategy was launched by Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne T.D. in October and closed on 5 November.  I would like to thank all who contributed to this consultation.  Work on the development of the strategy has begun and I expect the new strategy to be published in early 2021.