‘Inequalities in Civil Service Recruitment must be addressed’ – Bradley

SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh Dominic Bradley has urged the Department of Finance and Personnel to act on the inequality surrounding recruitment to the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

He was speaking following a meeting of the Finance and Personnel Committee at Stormont this week.

“There is a clear and worrying trend that Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) selection tests are adversely impacting on females and Catholics in particular,” Bradley stated. “This trend has remained consistent and unchecked for at least 10 years.

“Specific action must be taken to investigate the impact of NICS selection tests and to address the reasons why the unfairness in the current recruitment process has pertained.

“I urge the Department for Finance and Personnel to come before the Committee as soon as possible. We need to establish whether the NICS selection test is inherently bias and what can be done to ensure that a wide pool of talent is utilised.

He added, “Any consistently occurring inequalities in the NICS recruitment process must be addressed. The current selection criteria suggest that females, Catholics, disabled and older candidates are less likely than their counterparts to make it through to the next stage of the competition.

“This is totally unacceptable and must be rectified.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Nov 29 2012. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry