Ms Patricia Coleman:

The Deputy has asked a number of questions and he might forgive me if I do not remember them all. To start with the latter ones, circular 43/75, which is the original circular, is clear in regard to recruitment and establishment competitions. It defines that the Irish will apply in determining the order of merit. Recruitment competitions are open recruitment competitions that are advertised. Establishment competitions relate to people who have been brought into the Civil Service who may have been appointed in an unestablished capacity who then had an opportunity to convert to an established capacity. That explains those two terms.

The issue regarding internal promotional competitions is that the circular was not prescriptive in terms of the order of merit. Those words were not included in the circular but, as I said earlier, the practice for the past 37 years has been that this is the way Irish proficiency marks have been applied, at the final order of merit stage. This was the policy of the Department. We were satisfied that it was the correct way to apply the policy. At the end of the day there is an onus on us in terms of resourcing and recruitment policy to ensure we get the best people into the Civil Service and that they are fully competent to carry out the duties. As my colleagues in the CPSA and in the PAS have outlined in their submissions to the committee, we are required to ensure that we get the best people in, and in recruitment processes that we define the skills and competencies for particular posts when we are recruiting. If Irish is specified as a core competency for a particular job, then it would be assessed as part of the recruitment or promotion process. It would be one of the competences that would be adjudicated on in the selection process at the interview stage or the earlier stages.

I am trying to remember the Acting Chairman's other questions. The High Court case - the de Búrca challenge - related to the application of Irish proficiency in a particular competition and as it happened it was not a promotion competition and there are issues there. I do not want to go into the detail of the case because we will be before the Supreme Court on appeal. An Coimisinéir Teanga's main focus seems to be on the point or stage in the competition at which the Irish is applied, which is not an issue that is addressed in the de Búrca case. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has legal responsibility for establishing the terms and conditions for the Civil Service. The circulars are clear in regard to recruitment and establishment competitions in terms of the point in the process where the proficiency for Irish is applied. It is not prescriptive in regard to the others but the custom and practice for 37 years, which is a significant period, has been that it is applied at the final order of merit stage, and we are satisfied that this is the correct approach to adopt.

It is fair to say that An Coimisinéir Teanga is the regulator in regard to Irish language and we fully accept that role. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has a statutory responsibility in determining the terms and conditions for civil servants and in varying and changing those if required.