The Leaving Certificate is to be dropped as a minimum requirement for entry to local authorities in the State, the Department of the Environment and Local Government has confirmed. The decision is aimed at bolstering the flagging number of recruits in the public service.
In a letter to IMPACT, the union representing the majority of the 8,000-plus local authority workers, the Department has asked for a response to its proposal to amend the educational/experience qualifications for clerical officer posts, the grade at which new recruits join the public service.
The letter, from Mr Laurence Kelly, higher executive officer, personnel section, says: "This amendment will permit candidates without a Leaving Certificate but who none the less possess relevant experience to apply for appointment as clerical officer. The amendment is necessary in view of the current recruitment difficulties being experienced by several local authorities and also in the light of recent equality legislation."
The move, however, is seen by IMPACT as a serious "dumbing down" of the clerical officer post, and one that could have far-reaching implications for the public service. At present, IMPACT is preparing submissions on public service grades and pay which will be presented within the next two months to the benchmarking tribunal under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
The proposal is regarded by the union as unhelpful as the benchmarking process begins and as an attempt to avoid addressing the reason for the low level of recruitment. "We have serious difficulties with this. It reflects on the status of the clerical officer grade in relation to benchmarking. In that sense, the timing could hardly be less appropriate. The other question is what does relevant experience mean. "Does it mean who you know and does it mean that people will be brought into the service and promoted over existing staff who met the more stringent requirements and who have more experience? These are very worrying features of the proposal and ones that we will have to discuss in detail with the Department," Mr Al Butler, national secretary, IMPACT, said.
According to Mr Dominic McEvoy, IMPACT branch secretary in Cork, young people are turning away from the local authorities because of the ease with which they can find higher paid employment in outlets such as McDonald's. The starting salary for a clerical officer is £12,675 but significantly higher rates of pay are available in the private sector, he said.
"We feel the level of pay in the public service is what the focus should be on, not effectively downgrading the status of clerical officer which is what appears to be happening. If the fall-off in recruitment continues, there is also the danger that in future, the requirements for entry will be allowed to drop even further, possibly even below Junior Certificate level." A spokesman for the Department said discussions on the proposal would be held with the union in the near future. In the meantime, existing entry requirements applied.