Mr. Andrew Patterson:

We looked at the appointment process and at standard practice over the past 37 years where Irish is only taken into account at the final stage. Candidates are interviewed, an order of merit is formed and only at that point are those with proficiency in the Irish language given additional credit. That is our understanding of the scheme that has been in operation.

We are concerned about situations where the Irish language is not identified as a requirement for the role. My recollection is that for these posts Irish was not identified as either an absolute requirement or a desirable criterion for the role, but that this was just being done in line with the scheme and with circulars from the Department of Finance. Our interpretation of that was that Irish should only be taken into account at the final stage of the process.