3,000 apply for 200 Republic customs jobs

IN the Republic, more than 3,000 people have applied for jobs as Brexit customs officials. But the Irish government plans to hire just 200 of them by the deadline next spring.

The Republic’s Public Appointments Service confirmed it got 3,031 applications following a competition for clerical officers in customs trade facilitation based in Dublin, Wexford and Cork, which closed last month.

The Irish Revenue estimates that an extra 600 staff will be needed based on a transition period and future EU-UK trade deal.

However, just 200 of them will be trained and in place by March 29 next year. received during the external recruitment campaign, or at all, which commenced in and around April 2018 in Northern Ireland.”

The order also set out that no further external recruitment campaign within Northern Ireland will be commenced pending the implementation a review of experience criteria.

It added: “The intended respondent will review the recruitment criteria for further applications to Border Force, such that recruitment is on the basis of using success-based criteria which will seek input on the full range of skills and strengths required for the relevant role.”

That criteria “will be applied consistently across roles in Northern Ireland and in the remainder of the United Kingdom, and will not treat experience by way of law enforcement or investigations differently for roles in NI from the same roles in the remainder of the UK”.