1996/99
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Effort to bring appointment saga to a head
8 April 1998
By Tom Kelly
Mayo Vocational Education Committee is poised to fly in the face of Department of Education advice in the ongoing saga over the appointment of an adult education officer in the county, it has been learned.
The committee wants to reconvene the original interview board and recommend an appointment be made without further delays.
But Department of Education officials have made it clear that are not in favour of the board being reconvened.
As a result, they will not approve of the attendance of their representatives on the seven-member interview board.
It is understood, however, that the committee is pushing hard for the board's reconvening so that the controversy can be resolved once and for all.
But it is unclear if the reconvened interview board could make an official or binding recommendation without the backing of the Department.
Said a source:"There is a definite move afoot to force the issue once and for all. But it may end up on the Minister for Education's desk at this stage. Another option in resolving the issue is to readvertise the post."
At the centre of the controversy is the fact the recommendation of the interview board was never signed before being submitted to the Department of Education.
The majority of a seven-strong interview board expressed a preference for the appointment of an applicant.
Four members of the board had a vote in the appointment, and three of them advocated the selection of the applicant. It is understood that those on the interview board without a vote may not have been in favour of sanctioning the appointment at that stage.
