Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, my Department has policy responsibility for recruitment to the civil service. As reflected in the Civil Service Renewal 2024 Strategy, the civil service is strongly committed to equality of opportunity for all in terms of its recruitment and employment practices, and building a more diverse and inclusive workforce that is reflective of the modern Ireland that it serves.

OneLearning, the Civil Service Learning and Development Shared Service Centre based within my Department, provides staff with the opportunity to undertake a self-guided eLearning module developed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) on Equality and Human Rights in the Public Service. This eLearning module has been developed to support and enable staff to understand and meet their obligations under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty (Public Sector Duty) within public bodies and to support the goal to develop more diverse and inclusive workplaces.

The Public Appointments Service (PAS),which is a body under the aegis of my Department, is the primary recruiter for the civil service and some parts of the public service. PAS are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce, with the skills and attributes to meet the future challenges of the public service.

The Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) in PAS participated in Dublin Pride’s “Pride@Work” conference on May 13th and 14^th, on a panel entitled “Equity in Recruitment. A contingent of PAS staff participated in the Dublin Pride parade in June, alongside other civil service departments and public sector organisations.

A number of pieces of work are underway that will support underrepresented groups in general to access opportunities in the civil and public sector:

Workforce equality data provides powerful insights into the composition of a workforce. This type of data enables organisations to identify and address inequality of access, discrimination and under representation. PAS set out last year to develop its first ever Equality Monitoring Dashboard. The ESRI, the data partners for this project, have analysed data relating to 4,500 recruitment campaigns, including candidate profile information, applications made, and appointments made. This work will support the development, across the wider civil and public services, of a robust set of ED&I metrics and will help identify emerging trends.

Recruitment and selection processes, policies and procedures need to be reviewed, assessed and improved where required to encourage and enable access to opportunity for candidates from diverse backgrounds. An ED&I diagnostic review of PAS’s internal and external recruitment operations has taken place; the next steps will be to develop an action plan to deliver on the recommendations in the report.

PAS have also developed a school resource kit to bring careers in the civil and public sector to life for young people from all backgrounds, and in this resource kit PAS profile people from all backgrounds.

The position in relation to the remaining bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below.

Office of Public Works (OPW)

The Office of Public works implements best practice procedures for recruitment and selection in accordance with Employment Equality laws, and acts as an equal opportunities employer.The Office does not collect statistical data about candidates or employees who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community and does not set recruitment targets for members of this community.

In accordance with its public sector duty under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014, the Office has regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and treatment for its staff. The whole OPW workforce has been involved in affirming our commitment to upholding the values of FREDIE - Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement.Among its strategic HRM objectives, the Office will continue developing policies and practices that ensure equality and parity of esteem for all staff, equality of opportunity, inclusion, diversity and a strong sense of belonging where difference is celebrated in all aspects of working life.

National Shared Services Office (NSSO)

The Public Appointments Service is responsible for recruiting staff to the NSSO and as such recruitment to the NSSO is arranged under the PAS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.

State Laboratory

The State Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer, and uses the Public Appointments Service and 3^rdparty recruitment agencies to undertake recruitment. Whilst positions have not been specifically ring fenced for LGBTQIA+ communities, the ethos as an equal opportunity employer prevails.

Office of the Ombudsman

The recruitment of staff in the Office of the Ombudsman over the last number of years has predominantly been undertaken through competitions run by the Public Appointments Service with the exception of one competition which the Office ran directly for a number of specialist posts. This Office is very aware of robust equality legislation being in place which includes the outlawing of sexual discrimination in the recruitment of staff and is also aware of the National LGBT+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-21.

Office of the National Lottery Regulator (ORNL)

The ORNL is a small office with Ministerial sanction for 11 staff, including two part-time staff. The Office is fortunate in that it does not have a high turnover of staff and has not needed to fill any vacancies since January 2020. Two vacancies have now arisen and the recruitment process to fill these vacancies is about to commence. The Office is, and always has been, an equal opportunities employer and actively and prominently welcomes applications for all posts advertised from any applicant (regardless of their LGBTQIA+ status, disability status, etc.) that meets the requirements of the post being filled. The Office is an inclusive environment and celebrated Pride month in June.