When you recruit for the HSE, you must follow all regulations and nationally agreed criteria.
All stages of your recruitment process must be in line with the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) Code of Practice.
Check if you need approval to recruit
Approval to recruit
Before you start planning any recruitment, you will first need approval to recruit.
If you are recruiting for a new post, you will also need a job specification.
There is a guide to help you through the process of getting approval for HSE and Section 38 agencies.
Check the National Grade Code list for your post.
You can also:
email workforcedata@hse.ie for further information or assistance on getting approval to recruit.
email info.t@hse.ie for information or assistance on terms and conditions of employment.
Check if the CPSA Code of Practice applies
An appointment is filling a vacancy through an open external or internal selection process also known as an external or internal competition.
For an internal selection process, the Code of Practice applies only if the role involves higher pay and greater responsibility.
The Code of Practice does not apply to internal transfers or secondments.
Most appointments will follow all of the regulations of the Code of Practice.
There are some specific circumstances when you can make adjustments. For example:
- emergency short-term appointments
- specific short-term appointments at a higher grade
- processes confined to a specified candidate group
- campaigns for people with disabilities
- selection processes where responsibilities are shared by more than 1 public body
Check if you need to recruit
Consider the following when deciding if you need to recruit for a post:
- restructuring or redesigning the post
- impact on existing staff and workflow structures
- other sources of talent available, for example, people returning from career break or other forms of leave
- redeployment or reconfiguration
Use the Workforce Planning Resources and the Supporting Workforce Planning e-learning programme on HSeLanD to help you decide if you need to recruit.
Decide who will be eligible to apply for the role
Eligibility criteria are the key skills and requirements your candidates will need to apply for the role.
There are published nationally approved and agreed eligibility criteria for many staff grades across all categories. You cannot edit or amend these eligibility criteria.
Consider if you will accept applications from nationals who are not EEA, Swiss or British citizens already resident in the state. You can check what immigration permission, also known as a Stamp, they must hold.
Include this information in Appendix 2 of the Additional Candidate Information document.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to provide you with copies of their valid passport or Irish Residence Permit showing they have permission to be in the State.
Applications are considered incomplete if the above documents are not provided, where required, and should not be considered for ranking or invitation to interview.
Decide on your recruitment method
Decide the type and duration of the post - full time or part time, permanent or temporary.
This will inform the recruitment approach you take.
More information is available on the management of temporary appointments.
Using and creating panels
A recruitment panel is a list of candidates who have been successful at the selection or interview stages. Check the panels and panel management pages on how best to use and manage panels.
Creating a new panel
Working with other services can help to save time and money. For example, you might decide to recruit at a regional level rather than just for a local site to meet the needs of probable future vacancies.
It can also help you decide how to map your requirements most effectively so that panel formation will work successfully.
If you decide to recruit for a panel of candidates, you need to consider:
- type of candidates who are likely to be on the panel
- how to draw from that panel in the future
Using an existing panel
Information on local panels is available from your local HR department. National Recruitment Service (NRS) will provide advice on national panels.
Check if recruitment responsibility for the role is with the local recruitment team or National Recruitment Service (NRS). You can find more information in the HSE Recruitment Operating Model (ROM). The ROM:
- separates recruitment responsibilities between local services recruitment teams and National Recruitment Service
- limits duplication of effort, provides clarity of responsibility and clear governance
- provides supports including the split of responsibilities across grades
Contact the relevant recruitment team to see if a panel is in place.
You must carry out a selection process to form a new panel if:
- existing panel did not highlight the possibility of your location or specialty being filled from the panel
- selection assessment did not adequately examine your specialty area
You must create a new job order on Recruitment Gateway for each post.
On Recruitment Gateway, you must indicate if you want to recruit locally or if you want National Recruitment Service (NRS) to recruit for you based on who has recruitment responsibility for the role under the HSE Recruitment Operating Model (ROM).
Using a recruitment agency
When you use a recruitment agency, you are still the recruitment licence holder.
This means that you:
- have sole responsibility for the final selection of candidates for appointment and for placing candidates on a panel for appointment
- must ensure that that the agency follows all regulations and guidelines
- follow CPSA Code of Practice
Using CPSA-listed agencies can help you, as a licence holder, with fair and merit-based recruitment.
These agencies have outlined their knowledge and resources as well as their capacity for merit-based public-service recruitment. They have provided compliance statements, which confirm their commitment to the standards and principles in the CPSA Code of Practice.
Non-listed recruitment agencies have not been through this process.
It is your responsibility, as the licence holder, to ensure that that the agency follows all regulations and guidelines.
When you use a recruitment agency, you must follow good financial practice and procurement guidelines.
Using a recruitment framework
Recruiting for short term clinical posts
There is a national multi-supplier framework to provide temporary short-term agency staff where there is a surge in demand or to meet unexpected absences.
Agency staff are employees of the supplier or agency.
The supplier will invoice your service for basic pay; premium pay; and standard employee costs for example, holiday and public holiday pay, PRSI. Agency percentage and VAT.
The Framework covers the following staff categories:
- Medical
- Dental
- Nursing
- Health and Social Care professionals
- Health care assistants only
Email IRNMFramework@hse.ie for information on the scheme.
There are no national frameworks for:
- Management/Administration
- Other patient and client care
- Support staff
International recruitment
International recruitment is an option where you have difficulty in filling posts through the standard recruitment process. There is a range of international recruitment options available including:
- executive search and candidate introduction resource especially useful for posts listed on the critical skills occupations list
- framework for the international recruitment of staff nurses and staff midwives
- national multi-supplier framework for providing short-term temporary and locum health services agency placements
- recruitment service for occupational therapists, medical scientists, podiatrists, physiotherapists, radiographers, radiation therapists, speech and language therapists and social workers
- direct international recruitment
