Recruitment Generally, civil servants are recruited in competitions. The Public Appointments Service and the Commission for Public Service Appointments act as recruitment agents. The Public Appointments Service recruits assess and select appointees for government departments. The Commission for Public Service Appointments regulates recruitment. It publishes codes of practice and standards which must be complied with. […]
Oireachtas – the Dail This Irish national parliament is the Oireachtas and consists of the Dail and Seanad. Details of how it is elected and its powers are set out in the Constitution. The Oireachtas is the sole law-making power in the land. In practice, the government through the political process usually controls the lawmaking […]
Ministers and Government Departments Each government department is a separate legal body. The Minister is both legally and politically responsible for their departments.Technically the “Minister” is the legal body. The Minister in effect is the legal incorporation of the department. The particular person who holds that office from time to time is separate from the office […]
The Government The Government is the body designated by the Constitution to govern and administer the State. They are at the apex of the “executive” arm of the State. The Constitution lays down that there should be between seven and fifteen government Ministers. The Taoiseach nominates the members of the Government and they are formally […]
Role The President is Head of State. In this capacity, he plays a number of roles. Most are ceremonial in nature. Most presidential functions are performed on the advice of the Government. In these cases, the President has no discretion. There are a relatively small number of functions, where the President, has a genuine discretion […]
Overview I There are a significant number of State agencies and bodies which perform various governmental functions and services. State agencies deal with a wide variety of matters. They may be State-sponsored companies or bodies established by law. There are both commercial and non-commercial State-sponsored bodies. Commercial State-sponsored bodies are or are equivalent to commercial […]
Overview The public service makes decisions which affect the rights an interests of individuals across a whole host of areas on a daily basis. In some cases, there are elements of discretion in relation to the exercise of the power. More generally the rights of entitlement of individuals are fixed by law. There exist mechanisms […]
Public Service Ombudsman The Ombudsman’s Office was established in 1980 and commenced in 1984. The Ombudsman holds office for six years and can be appointed for up to three terms. The Ombudsman is responsible for reviewing good administration across a wide range of the public service. The Ombudsman may act on its own initiative or […]
Ministers Ministers are responsible under the Ministers and Secretaries Acts for the administration of their departments. Technically the ministers themselves are the legal incorporation of the department. The ministry is an office of which the particular holder is holder from time to time. The effect is that every act and decision of the government department […]
