Publicjobs, the public sector jobs platform, said a recruitment blunder that saw more than 12,500 job applicants issued with incorrect scores and rankings “seemed avoidable” and was likely to damage its reputation.An internal review said the error in the clerical officer competition followed a series of communication failures, system problems, and inadequate testing of the online application process.The mistake meant candidates were given scores and rankings on answers to questions that were not intended for the competition. The review document said there was an onus on the appointments service to learn from what had happened and to take steps to ensure it couldn’t happen again.It said: “The issue seemed avoidable, and its occurrence is likely to have had a negative impact on the reputation and credibility of publicjobs as a professional and trusted recruitment body.”The review said there were multiple issues including that some “mandatory” fields were “optional” over a two-day period.Candidates were also unable to view some of the application form questions when completing it in Irish. Publicjobs was also contacted by An Coimisinéir Teanga – the Irish language oversight body – about problems applicants were having.Will the State’s plan for the Carlton Cinema site revitalise O’Connell Street? Listen | 25:33The larger problem around the recruitment blunder came to light when a person emailed on April 1st to say they had answered the same questions as in a previous competition but had been given different scores.The review said: “[They] ... were put on a list of candidates whose scores were to be rechecked by [the unit] as part of the informal review process.”Two weeks later, the person emailed again saying they “remained concerned with the outcome.” Every score was then checked internally, and it was discovered that “all candidates had received incorrect scores and order of merit rankings.”In late April, applicants were notified about the issue with an apology and an explanation of what had occurred. A day later, the revised scores and rankings were sent out to the more than 12,500 people who had been issued incorrect results.The internal review said that a computer system intervention should have taken place when reusing a candidate application form for a new competition. “This was communicated informally, and it seems clear the unit did not fully understand the change and the potential knock-on implications of it,” it aid. The review said the project team and unit were then left working under “different understandings.”Asked about the report, a spokesperson said: “publicjobs acknowledges the error made in the Clerical Officer 2026 nationwide competition, which resulted in candidates receiving an incorrect result and order of merit ranking for their selected location.”In April, we apologised to candidates for the error and took steps to rectify it, rechecking all scores and issuing revised results and order of merit rankings to candidates.“We have since carried out an internal review into how the error occurred. The findings have been shared with senior management, and we are implementing additional measures to help ensure a similar error does not happen again.”