Temporary Clerical Officer

The Role

The duties of Temporary Clerical Officers (TCOs) may vary depending on the nature of work carried out by the employing organisation. This involves such clerical/administrative tasks which may be assigned to the employee from time to time by the organisation.

The following outlines the type of work that you may be required to undertake, if appointed:

• General clerical work e.g. filing, photocopying, answering/making telephone calls, dealing with emails, reception desk duties, etc. under the supervision of a designated manager;

• Supporting line-managers and colleagues;

• Working as part of a team in delivering services;

• Communicating and dealing with the public/customers e.g. responding to queries and providing information face-to-face, by telephone or via email;

• Providing the highest quality standards in customer service;

• Using Information Technology on a daily basis, e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, database, email and internet;

• Maintaining high quality records in a thorough and organised manner;

• Checking all work thoroughly to ensure it is completed to a high standard;

• Carrying out routine accounts work;

• Approaching work in a careful and methodical manner, displaying accuracy at all times, even when conducting routine/repetitive work;

• Any other duties deemed appropriate.

IMPORTANT: Please see Appendix 1 for more information on the Capability Framework and preparation guidelines.

In certain instances, positions may arise where specialist skills or experience is required. Suitable candidates may be selected for the purpose of filling such vacancies.

Vacancies

Applicants who are successful in this competition will be placed on a panel, in an order of merit. Vacancies which may arise for Temporary Clerical Officers may be filled from this panel. Such vacancies may exist in one of many Government Departments/Offices, or in an ‘agency’ of a Government Department. Please note, this also includes Garda Civilian positions in An Garda Síochána.

It is not envisaged that appointments will be made from this competition after 30th November 2025.

ESSENTIAL ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Candidates must by the closing date of 21st August 2025: (a) have previous relevant work experience, preferably in a customer service office environment; (b) have appropriate level and experience of relevant ICT Skills, e.g. proficiency in Word, Excel, e-mail; (c) have relevant knowledge and skills to undertake the duties of the position, including the ability to:

• take direction / follow instructions;

• organise and prioritise work effectively;

• work well with the public and colleagues;

• be flexible in their approach to work;

• be able to communicate effectively in a clear and concise manner; (d) be at least 16 years of age on or before the closing date of 21st August 2025; (e) fulfil Citizenship, Health & Character, Garda Vetting & Security Clearance and Reference Check requirements; (f) ensure that they meet the criteria regarding Public & Civil Service Redundancy/Ill Health Retirement Schemes.

Candidates should demonstrate the skills and capabilities under the three main Capability Dimensions identified for this role:

• Evidence Informed Delivery

• Communicating and Collaborating

• Building Future Readiness

It is important that candidates list their previous civil or public service employment, if they have availed of a voluntary redundancy or retirement scheme and/or are in receipt of an ill-health retirement pension. Failure to do so could lead to disciplinary action.

Employer of Choice

As an Employer of Choice the Civil Service has many flexible and family-friendly policies e.g. Worksharing, Shorter Working Year, Remote Working (operated on a ‘blended’ basis) etc. All elective policies can be applied for in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions and are subject to the business needs of the organisation.

The Civil Service also operates a Mobility scheme for all general service grades. This scheme provides staff with career opportunities to learn and partake in diverse roles across a range of Civil Service organisations and geographical locations.

PRINCIPAL CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

General

(Please note the terms shown below relate to the Temporary Clerical Officer role in the Civil Service and the terms, including the rate of pay, may vary depending on the organisation/agency to which you may be assigned. These are intended as indicative only. Contracts of employment will be available at time of assignment.)

The appointment is to a temporary post in the Civil Service and is subject to the Civil Service Regulations Acts 1956 to 2005, the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 and any other Act for the time being in force relating to the Civil Service.

Pay

The salary for this position, weekly rate effective from 1st August 2025, is: €596.11 per week

The PPC pay rate applies when the individual is required to pay a Personal Pension Contribution (otherwise known as a main scheme contribution) in accordance with the rules of their main/personal superannuation scheme. This is different to a contribution in respect of membership of a Spouses’ and Children’s scheme, or the Additional Superannuation Contributions (ASC).

Candidates should note that salary will not be subject to negotiation and the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with Government pay policy.

Payment will be made weekly in arrears by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) into a bank account of your choice. Payment cannot be made until a bank account number and bank sort code has been supplied on appointment and statutory deductions from salary will be made as appropriate.

Upon appointment, you will agree that any overpayment of salary, allowances, or expenses will be repaid by you in accordance with Circular 07/2018: Recovery of Salary, Allowances, and Expenses Overpayments made to Staff Members/Former Staff Members/Pensioners.

Tenure

Assignments will be to a temporary position. The duration and period of a temporary contract will vary from post to post. There is no entitlement to a permanent position.

Notwithstanding the above paragraph on tenure, we retain the right to consider holding a confined Selection Process for permanent appointment to certain positions within the Civil Service in certain limited circumstances. Any such process will be held in compliance with the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) Code of Practice.

Headquarters

Headquarters will be such as may be designated from time to time by the Head of the Department/organisation. When required to travel on official duty the appointee will be paid appropriate travelling expenses and subsistence allowances, subject to normal Civil Service regulations.

Hours of attendance

Hours of attendance will be fixed from time to time but will amount to not less than 41 hours 15 minutes gross per week or 35 hours net per week. Where extra attendance is necessary, overtime payments, or time off in lieu, will be allowed in accordance with the Civil Service overtime regulations.

Annual Leave

The annual leave for this position is determined by the number of hours worked.

Location Choices

At application stage you may select a maximum of two location choices, listed below, where you would be prepared to work if offered an appointment:

Clare Limerick

You should only select a location choice where you would be prepared to work if offered an appointment. Changes to your location choice will not be permitted after the closing date.

Vacancies for which you may be considered will extend only to a city/town in your chosen county. Candidates should be aware that vacancies may not arise in all of the above locations while this panel is active. Once a candidate has been assigned, they are removed from the panel.

Candidates who wish to be considered for positions which may arise must be available for the full duration of the contract offered. Holidays/Events are not taken into consideration.

After stage one, candidates may be required to provide further information regarding their location choice.

County Preferences

Candidates are permitted to select up to 2 county preferences. However, candidates who wish to select more than one county should rank their preferences by order in which they would accept a role if offered.

Candidates are only permitted to interview once for this competition irrespective of the number of counties selected. If a candidate accepts an offer for interview in one of their chosen counties, they will not be considered for any post in the county which they have ranked lower.

Changes to a candidate’s choice of county preference will not be permitted after the closing date. Once a candidate accepts a post, they will no longer be considered for offers in any other county.

Next Steps

Should you come under consideration to proceed to subsequent stages of the selection process, information will be forwarded to you at the appropriate time.

Shortlisting

Normally the number of applications received exceeds the numbers required to fill existing and future vacancies. While you may meet the eligibility requirements of the competition, if the numbers applying for the positions are such that it would not be practical to interview everyone, publicjobs may decide that a number only will be called to interview.

In this respect, publicjobs provide for the employment of a shortlisting process to select a group for interview who, based on an examination of the application forms, appear to be the most suitable for the position. This is not to suggest that other candidates are necessarily unsuitable, or incapable of undertaking the job, rather that there are some candidates who are, prima facie, better qualified and/or have more relevant experience.

During any shortlisting exercise that may be employed, publicjobs are guided by an assessment board(s) who examine the application forms and assess them against predetermined criteria based on the requirements of the position. It is therefore in your own interests to provide a detailed and accurate account of your qualifications/experience on the application form.

General Information

The admission of a person to a competition, or invitation to attend interview, or a successful result letter, is not to be taken as implying that publicjobs is satisfied that such a person fulfils the requirements.

Prior to recommending any candidate for appointment to this position publicjobs will make all such enquiries that are deemed necessary e.g. health, character, employer references, security checks (including international checks), or any other enquiries as are deemed necessary to determine the suitability of that candidate.

Until all stages of the recruitment process have been fully completed a final determination cannot be made nor can it be deemed or inferred that such a determination has been made.

Security Clearance

You will be required to complete and return a Garda eVetting form should you come under consideration for appointment. This form will be forwarded to An Garda Síochána to initiate security checks on all Irish and Northern Irish addresses at which you resided.

However, should your application for the competition be unsuccessful this form will be destroyed by publicjobs. If you subsequently come under consideration for another position, you may therefore be required to complete a further Garda Vetting Form.