Ms Patricia Coleman:

Yes, and the policy which has been clearly elucidated over 37 years is that it is applied at the final order of merit stage, and this ties in with our requirements laid down by the other regulator, the CPSA, in terms of recruiting the best people for the job and fairness, equity and openness. We must have people in the Civil Service who are fully competent and capable of doing the job. Under the schemes, Departments know what services they must provide in Irish and the number of people that they need who have those proficiencies and can provide services in Irish. That is then a matter for them.