OPENING UP civil service jobs to non-EU nationals is under consideration, says the Office of the Minister for Integration.
However, a spokesperson said the matter had not been “finalised”, and the current ban on recruitment into the civil service means “the question is somewhat academic at present”.
Currently, only European Economic Area (EEA) citizens are permitted to apply to join the civil service, while the Public Appointments Commission (PAC) – which oversees recruitment into the civil service – advises that some jobs have “specific nationality requirements”.
According to the PAC: “For example, to apply for the job of third secretary, you need to be an Irish citizen. Similarly, for some jobs in the Department of Foreign Affairs, such as executive officer, you need to be an EU citizen.”
The civil service employs over 30,000 people in more than 30 different departments and Offices, and its role includes advising the Government on policy, and helping to prepare and draft new legislation.
Restrictions on immigrant employment have meant that bodies which have a particular remit on diversity issues – such as the Equality Authority and the Office of the Minister for Integration – have few employees with non-European backgrounds.
Last December, the Office of the Minister for Integration admitted that of its 29 staff, just two were of immigrant backgrounds – one was a non-Irish national, the other a naturalised Irish citizen. Most of the office’s staff are seconded from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The Equality Authority also admitted last year that just one of its 38-person staff was non-Irish.
Commenting on the situation, Tendai Madondo – originally from Zimbabwe and who ran as a Green Party candidate in last year’s local elections – said any aspect of policy development and implementation in a multi-cultural society “has to have the active involvement of people from diverse backgrounds”.
However, the Tallaght-based politician added that in the current economic climate, immigrant issues had become “peripheral”.
Madondo said “there has to be more effort to make immigrants aware of opportunities” such as joining the civil service, which is generally open to EU nationals, and underlined that immigrants lack awareness on a range of employment, social and educational opportunities, and that “no political will” exists to redress this.
She concluded that ethnic political candidates like herself were often viewed as “once-off opportunists” rather than “true public representatives” during last summer’s local elections.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Minister for Integration has pointed out that recruitment to An Garda Síochána is “also now open to non-European nationals who have resided in Ireland for five years”.
In a bid to attract immigrant members, the force altered its recruitment rules in 2005, waiving the requirement that applicants be able to speak Irish.
However, it attracted worldwide controversy two years later when it ruled that a Sikh applicant to the Garda Reserve would not be permitted to wear his turban while on station duty.
Meanwhile, there has been no compulsory Irish language requirement for public service appointments since the early 1970s.
