Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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53. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason that the Public Appointments Service could not proceed with the recruitment campaign for Dublin Fire Brigade which the Service was requested to undertake in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50500/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Recruitment to the civil service and a range of other public bodies operates under the provisions of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Acts, 2004 to 2013. The Public Appointments Service operates under licence from the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) and is independent in its operations. In carrying out its recruitment and selection processes, it complies with the Codes of Practice published by the CPSA, which ensure that fair and open processes are in place.

I am informed by the Public Appointments Service that in early 2022 Dublin City Council approached PAS requesting to hold a new Fire Fighter competition. This competition would typically attract a large volume of applications, requiring expertise in managing competitions of this nature. It was assigned to the Large Volume Competitions Unit to be considered in the context of the work on hand and planned for the year.

Upon review, PAS had 14 live competitions that were going through multiple batches of assessment and interview stages, 5 additional competitions advertised in early 2022 and a further 10 general grade competitions planned for launch in 2022.

In respect of the Local Authority sector PAS is required to recruit for roles at senior executive level and above only. PAS is therefore not funded or resourced to carry out the Fire Fighter competition for Dublin City Council. However, PAS has previously assisted Dublin City Council with the preliminary stages of the recruitment process. In 2019 when PAS previously ran the Fire Fighter competition, PAS had a total of 12 general grade competitions and therefore had capacity to handle additional competitions.

Given the context outlined, PAS was unfortunately unable to provide the service requested due to core clients commitments and the volume of work required to satisfy ongoing demands.

Given the context outlined, PAS were unfortunately unable to provide the service requested due to core clients commitments and the volume of work required to satisfy ongoing demands. These challenges remain in place in the context of 2023 and any further requests, would need to be considered in that context.