How Economic Migrants can get into Ireland’s Public Sector and Civil Service

Ireland’s public service applies to the public administration as a whole within the state government system. Public service work is crucial to the successful economic and social well-being of our public and businesses. A variety of measures are ongoing to make Ireland a more friendly nation for migrants.

There are more than 300,000 public servants work across a wide range of organizations to provide public services to the people of Ireland. This includes different sectors such as education, defence, conservation, economics, health and policing.

There are 17 Government Departments including bodies such as the Garda Síochána, who work under the Department of Justice and Equality, and the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE), who work under the Department of Health.

Different fields of work in the public and civil service sectors

Public service work provides you with a unique opportunity to provide essential services to the Irish people and to help social services that affect and shape the Irish community. You can work as a Teacher, Nurse, IT Specialist, Economist, Manager or Administrator or you can work in areas like conservation, education, policy, health, law and defence.

In the civil service, you may work in a Government Department. Both divisions are responsible for formulating policies and ensuring their implementation.

Another area where you could work is in a government agency. It is an independent organisation that carries out the policies decided upon by government.

The Civil Service entry level position is typically at the level of the clerical officer, while the junior management roles include the level of executive officer and the level of administrative officer.

Senior management positions are generally Assistant Senior, Senior Officer levels, while Assistant Secretary and Secretary. 

Application process

Any candidate can apply for this position if he/she have a degree in first or second class honours. Most public sector jobs use application forms as the first part of the selection process.

Some employers will accept applications through online but be careful, as some will only accept your application by post.

The applicant may be required to undertake an assessment test and also an interview. Assessment tests are not a requirement for all job roles.

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Skills and qualifications needed to work in the public sector and civil service

Any successful candidate is entirely based on his or her own merit. The recruitment is completely objective and fair, that all candidates are treated equally and all are asked to complete the same systematic assessments.

An individual should have a first or second class honours degree. For European traineeships, you will need fluency in an additional European language.

Problem solving skills, communication (written and verbal), teamwork and an ability to work on your own initiative and take ownership of projects are the few general skills that you need. The specific skills needed will depend on the area you are working in.

If the applicant is an Irish speaker, the Civil Service has a range of unique opportunities to offer. Also, if he/she knows the language or have Irish language skills, they find that colleagues in the department / office are in demand for their services.

However, the main thing a applicant should know is that being able to speak Irish is not a requirement to apply for a civil service job.

Candidate’s age or time has nothing to do with your application for the role of Civil Service Administrative Officer role.