Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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453. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform whether his Department has circulated advice on instances where a civil servant is serving a custodial sentence for a serious violent crime; and if he could provide detail of this advice, and the impact such a conviction would have on the individual’s employment status within the civil service. [11005/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour sets out a clear framework within which civil servants must work.

Section 9 of the Code - ‘Criminal convictions’ states:

‘A civil servant who is convicted of a criminal offence or given the benefit of the Probation Act when charged with a criminal offence (whether the Probation Act is (i) applied where summary proceedings for an offence are brought, the case is proven and the Court decides not to proceed to conviction or (ii) applied on conviction on indictment of an offence which is punishable by imprisonment and the Court places the convicted person on probation rather than imprison him or her) must report that fact to his or her Personnel Officer. In certain circumstances, this may have implications for his or her official position. Departments/Offices should exercise discretion in dealing with cases in the light of all of the merits of each case. In accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003, such information will be treated in strict confidence by Departments/Offices and no record of it will be kept unless the information is relevant to the official duties being carried out by the officer’.

Disciplinary action where appropriate is a matter for individual departments or offices who will take into account the circumstances of individual cases prior to determining sanctions which may apply.