Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides the Minister with the power to declare qualifications of such classes and descriptions as he or she thinks fit for a specified employment under a local authority or for such of the employments as belong to a specified class, description or grade. Orders made under section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 declaring qualifications for engineering roles in the local government sector are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/c450a-engineering-services-in-local-authorities-qualifications/

The recruitment and filling of posts in the local authority sector is undertaken both by individual local authorities and the Public Appointments Service depending on the level and tenure of the post concerned. Section 160(1)(c) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that a person is not be appointed to any employment under a local authority for which qualifications are for the time being declared under section 160 unless he or she possesses those qualifications.

My Department undertakes reviews of declared qualifications as necessary and has recently commenced a review of the suite of current engineering qualifications declared under section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001.