Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible.
The qualifications outlined in the advertisement for the post concerned are the declared qualifications as agreed by my Department in consultation with representatives of the Local Government sector in 2003.
Recruitment in the sector is undertaken through a mixture of internal competitions and open competitions. In open competitions candidates may apply irrespective of their place of work and will be assessed against the published criteria. A set proportion of posts are filled on an open competition basis. In addition, posts at some management levels are filled solely through open competition.
In internal competitions in the Local Government sector, only candidates from a range of public sector bodies, what is called the Common Recruitment Pool, may apply. The Central Bank is not within the Common Recruitment Pool. Candidates from the Central Bank may only apply for Local Authority posts being filled through an open competition.