950. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the number of applicants to the communications specialist higher executive officer competition; the number that have been brought forward to assessment stage; the number of positions that have been hired for this role in previous competitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62520/26]

The current Communications Specialist (Higher Executive Officer) competition in the Civil Service is being managed by publicjobs, which has informed me that 668 candidates applied for the competition. Of these, 557 candidates completed the online assessments, and 510 candidates were successful at that stage and may progress further in the selection process.

Publicjobs has advised that shortlisting for the first batch of candidates is scheduled to take place between 31 August and 4 September 2026.

In relation to the previous Communications Specialist (Higher Executive Officer) competition, which was advertised in 2024, publicjobs has informed me that 57 candidates have been assigned to vacancies to date.