At least 3,600 candidates appointed to jobs in the public sector never showed up to start their post since 2022.
The publicjobs service said around 1,200 people a year got through the civil service recruitment process successfully but did not take up the job.
The highest number of posts were as ‘temporary clerical officers’ where 2,168 candidates managed to get a job but never arrived.
There were more senior roles abandoned too with around twenty medical consultants appointed each year but opting not to accept a post.
The publicjobs service said 60 individual candidates for senior medical roles had not turned up for work, in an area where recruitment has been particularly challenging especially for certain specialities.
The appointments service said data was not collected on all cases where a person did not take up a post in the public sector and that people were not under any obligation to explain their reasons for not going ahead.
It said there could also be cases where they were not notified by a government department or public body of a candidate not showing up for duty and also cases where direct appointments took place without their involvement.
“The figures should be taken as indicative … rather than definitive,” they added.
A total of 92 people who were offered administrative officer roles in health, human resources, business, energy, and other areas failed to take up posts.
There were a further twenty individuals, offered well-paid positions at assistant principal grade, who opted not to take them.
From 2022 to 2024, 317 people got a position as an executive officer and then decided to do something else, the records showed.
There were also sixteen people given jobs as higher executive officers who were no-shows for their post.
Nine people were offered jobs as principal officers – a position with a starting salary of over €100,000 – but were listed as not reporting for duty.
The appointments service said a further 84 people given temporary clerical jobs dealing with Ireland’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis never took their positions.
In a statement, publicjobs said that more than 85 percent of the people assigned to over 30,000 roles during the past three years took up their posts.
A spokesman said: “Based on information we receive from our client departments and organisations; we are aware that approximately 10 to 15 percent of candidates do not take up positions after assignment.
“With competition for talent and skills remaining high, as the Irish economy continues to grow and as the labour market nears full employment, publicjobs continues to work to find new ways of marketing careers and driving talent attraction for the civil and public service.”
