Government overhauls civil service recruiting

The Government has published a bill overhauling the way civil servants are recruited, which it says will aid the decentralisation process.

Under the terms of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003, Government departments will be allowed to apply for licences to recruit their own staff directly, rather than having to go through the Civil Service Commission.

Licence-holders will also be allowed to hire staff through private recruitment agencies.

The Bill also covers recruitment to An Garda Síochána and jobs under the remit of the Local Appointments Commissioners, which include senior and professional posts in local government, the ten health boards and the VECs.

It dissolves the Civil Service Commissioners and the Local Appointments Commissioners and creates the Commission for Public Service Appointments and the Public Appointments Service. These will continue to recruit for State bodies which choose not to apply for a licence.

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said the Bill would help the modernisation of the system that was agreed under the Sustaining Progress agreement. He said it would ensure a "a constant supply of good recruits" and insisted the high standards of the old system would be maintained. It would also ensure the smooth transition of Government departments to new locations outside Dublin, he said.

"[The Bill is] introducing real flexibility into the recruitment process which will support the Government's decision on decentralisation announced in the Budget," Mr McCreevy said.

"The provisions of the Bill and the overhaul of recruitment practices will be of great assistance in a highly regionalised public service with the majority of civil servants located outside Dublin."

A spokesman for the Civil, Public and Services Union - which represents over 13,000 clerical and administrative staff - said the union was broadly in favour of the terms of the bill.

Mr Eoin Ronayne said the CPSU had concerns that private recruitment firms would be given a larger role in hiring staff to State jobs. However, the union was satisfied the Minister's proposal addressed these concerns and would "protect the ethos" of civil service employment.