Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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1311. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied that the provisions of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform Circular 4/2013 are being properly implemented by his Department; if he is satisfied that civil servants whose career breaks are coming to an end are being notified of appropriate vacancies; if he is concerned by instances where civil servants are having their career breaks extended unnecessarily where the Department has appropriate vacancies to fill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44377/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My Department, in line with other government departments, requires Civil Servants to comply with Sections 31-34 of the Circular 4/2013, when returning from a Career Break. In particular, Section 31, which states that ‘in order to secure an offer of work, the civil servant must indicate at least two months before the end of his/her career break that s/he wishes to return to work. However, it may not be possible to facilitate the return to work of a civil servant on career break in relevant grade for up to 12 months after the end date of the career break.’ Once the employer receives the notification, they are then obliged to inform the civil servant of any vacancies appropriate to their grade.

Since the establishment of the Department in 2020, I understand that there has not been any incidences when an officer has returned from a career and has not been assigned to a suitable role. To date, there has not been any situation when a career break has been extended unnecessarily where the Department has appropriate vacancies to fill.