The Commission for Public Service Appointments is the principal regulator of recruitment and selection in the Irish public service. Our role is to ensure that appointments that are made to positions within the civil and public service are done so fairly, transparently and following a merit-based selection process. Our customer service charter sets out what you can expect from us while we are examining:
If you send us a letter, email or online enquiry we will:
If you make a complaint to the Commission under section 8 of the Code of Practice we will:
If you make an application to the Commission for a recruitment licence, to be a listed agency or for an excluding order we will:
If you wish to meet in person by prior appointment we will:
We are committed to:
We will assist people who wish to carry out their business with us through Irish
To assist us in meeting our service standards it would be helpful if you could provide as much information as possible when we are dealing with your request. In particular, we would request that you:
We welcome and encourage suggestions on how we can improve our service
Most people who complain to our office act in a calm and reasonable manner. We understand that making a complaint against a public body can be stressful and that, from time to time, this stress may show in how you interact with this office. Our staff members know that managing these interactions is part of their job.
Our staff are not expected to tolerate behaviour that is abusive, offensive, threatening or, due to the frequency of contact, takes up too much time and resources that could be spent dealing with other complaints and investigations.
The following types of behaviour are not acceptable:
If a complaint has been examined and closed by the Commission, the following is unreasonable persistence: insisting another caseworker looks again at the complaint after an appeal has been completed, changing the complaint to present it again as a new complaint or continuing with an argument that has already been looked at.
An unreasonable demand can include a demand for an investigation into a matter the Commission is not allowed to examine, looking for a solution that is not realistic or is disproportionate, or telling the Commission how to carry out the investigation.
You must present your complaint in an organised manner. Unreasonable lack of co-operation can include: not identifying the complaint clearly, presenting too much information and expecting a fast response, changing your complaint in the middle of the investigation and being dishonest about the facts.
You may not make unreasonable arguments. Examples include exaggerating issues, presenting irrelevant or unreasonable arguments, focusing on small details, insisting your version of events is accepted as fact where there is no objective evidence to support it, refusing to consider other versions of events, or being guided by unfounded conspiracy theories or by desire for revenge or a grudge against another person or public body.
Unreasonable behaviour includes threats of violence, abuse of staff, and rude or aggressive conduct.
If we consider your behaviour to be unreasonable, we will tell you why and ask you to change it. If it might be useful, we will consider changing our service in a way that may help you avoid unreasonable behaviour in the future.
If the unreasonable behaviour continues, we will take action to put limits on your contact with our office. This decision will only normally be taken after a senior investigator (or above) has reviewed the situation. Restrictions will be appropriate and in line with the nature of the behaviour. The options we are most likely to consider are:
In all cases, we will write to tell you why we believe your behaviour is unreasonable and what action we propose to take. If the behaviour is so extreme that it threatens the immediate safety and welfare of staff or others, we will consider other options. These could include, reporting the matter to An Garda Síochána or instigating legal action. In such cases, we may not give you prior warning of that action.
Regardless of your behaviour, our staff will act respectfully towards you and take an impartial attitude to your complaint.
Customer Services Manager
Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments
6 Earlsfort Terrace
Dublin 2
+353 1 639 5750
Our data protection officer can be contacted at dataprotection@cpsa.ie
Our full contact details are available on the contact us page