SENIOR CIVIL servants are expected to criticise plans by the Government to ring-fence top-level promotional posts for external candidates.
The annual conference of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which takes place in Dublin today, will hear calls on the union to oppose such a move “by any means at its disposal”.
In its programme for government the new Coalition gave a commitment that all appointments at principal officer level and above would be open to external competition, and that at least one-third of such positions would be reserved for candidates outside of traditional Civil Service structures for a period of five years.
Such a plan could have significant implications for the promotional prospects of members of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which represents personnel at principal officer and assistant principal officer grades.
The move by the Government has been criticised in motions put forward by both the justice and law reform branch of the union, as well as its revenue branch.
The motion proposed by the justice and law reform branch states: “The conference deplores the proposal in the programme for government to discriminate against serving civil servants in selection for senior Civil Service appointments and instructs the incoming executive committee to vigorously oppose, by any means at its disposal, any attempts to reserve a proportion of principal officer and assistant secretary appointments for candidates from outside the Civil Service”.
The conference will also debate proposals from the revenue branch that the union should not agree to “significant changes” to members’ terms and conditions under Croke Park without consultation and without putting them to a ballot as appropriate.