700 applicants for six council jobs that remain unfilled

 

No new positions have been yet filled with the outdoor staff at the council because too many people applied.

“Around 700 people” applied for just six jobs with the council, which was advertised in this paper in February of this year.
A meeting of the Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District heard on Monday (June 27) that the six positions were advertised on February 24 with applications for a 'two-year’ panel in the roads and infrastructure departments at the council, 'joining over 400 employees providing essential public services for the betterment of our county’.
Cllr Sean Smith (FF) had queried the matter under the 'any other business’ heading of the agenda and was told by area engineer Derry Scanlan that the large number “still had to be whittled down, that’s the situation”.
Cllr Eugene Greenan joked that the 700 could be sent to unfinished estate Maple Drive, referring to a previous matter he raised in the meeting on the lack of street-lighting at the development.
The meeting heard from Mr Scanlan that there was “no way we can interview 700 people” for the jobs; while Cllr John Paul Feeley noted that there was a “serious lack of outdoor staff”.
Cllr Smith said that the jobs had been advertised “early in the year” and that there was “still nobody” in place, adding that “summer holidays are upon us”.
Area manager Ger Finn said that the amount of applications was “very hard to shortlist”, as there were little in “qualifications needed” for the council’s general operative panel.
Cllr Feeley asked how many future staff would eventually be located in the Cavan-Belturbet area, to which Mr Scanlan advised that it would depend on who came first in the interviews, adding that 'it would be better to have road staff living in their district'.