A Government decision to recruit retired gardai and other public service pensioners to process applications from asylumseekers has met with strong resistance from the Irish Refugee Council, civil service unions and the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed.
Spokesman for the Department of Justice Mr Noel Waters said that about 70 people were needed to clear a backlog of 3,500 applications for refugee status caused by the delayed implementation of the Refugee Act. The Act faces a legal challenge in the High Court. Mr Waters said that processing applications was complex and required experienced personnel but Ms Nadette Foley, of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), questioned the advisability of recruiting retired public servants. While they might be familiar with bureaucratic procedures "they may not be as well-trained in the sort of cross-cultural communication and other skills needed".
She expressed concern that the IRC had not been involved in discussions on how to train the new personnel. She felt that young people might be more eager and flexible in their approach to training than retired civil servants or gardai. People who had been involved in voluntary service overseas might also be interested in applying for the jobs.
The general secretary of the Civil and Public Service Union, Mr Blair Horan, said that the decision to seek applications from public service pensioners was in breach of existing agreements on the recruitment of temporary staff. He called on the Government to honour those agreements and described the move as "a real body-blow to school-leavers coming on the labour market this September".
INOU vice-chairwoman Ms Jenny Storey said that hundreds of unemployed people who had passed the Civil Service examination were ready and willing to do the work.