What is a recruitment licence?
A recruitment licence is a permit allowing you, as a public body, to carry out your own external recruitment.
If an appointment must be made under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004, the selection process must be carried out by an approved licence holder. You can apply to us for a licence.
You must show you have:
- Resources to carry out fair and merit-based recruitment on the scale that is needed
- Staff with knowledge and expertise to carry out fair, merit-based appointments
- A good understanding of the Code of Practice and how to uphold them
Licences are issued with terms and conditions. A licence may be terminated if you do not adhere to these terms and conditions.
When is a licence required?
The Public Appointments Service will often carry out a recruitment process on your behalf. In such cases you do not need to apply for a licence. You only need a licence if you want to carry out your own external recruitment process.
Recruitment licence application appeal process
In cases where the AP in CPSA refuses an application and the applicant seeks a review of the decision, a more senior official in the CPSA will review the case. In doing so they will look at any points made by the Recruiter where they consider the licence should have been granted. The senior official will consider these and will then make a decision and inform the recruiter of the decision in writing giving reasons for the decision made.
In cases where a more senior official agrees that the licence application should be refused, a report on this will be made to the next Commission meeting.
Who holds a recruitment licence?
- Adoption Authority of Ireland
- An Garda Síochána
- Central Statistics Office
- Chief State Solicitor’s Office
- Child and Family Agency - Tusla
- Courts Service of Ireland
- Data Protection Commission
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
- Department of Children and Youth Affairs
- Department of Education and Skills
- Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- Department of Finance
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Department of Health
- Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government
- Department of Justice and Equality
- Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
- Department of Rural and Community Development
- Department of Social Protection
- Department of the Taoiseach
- Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media
- Department of Transport
- Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman
- Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
- Health Information and Quality Authority
- Health Service Executive
- Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
- Irish Prison Service
- Law Reform Commission
- Legal Aid Board
- National Council for Special Education
- National Shared Services Office
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
- Office of Public Works
- Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General
- Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement
- Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
- Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas
- Office of the Ombudsman
- Office of the Ombudsman for Children
- Office of the Planning Regulator
- Office of the Revenue Commissioners
- Policing Authority
- Public Appointments Service
- State Examinations Commission
- Tax Appeals Commission
- The Electoral Commission
- The State Laboratory
- Tailte Éireann
- Maritime Area Regulatory Authority
Apply for a recruitment licence