Ms Aoife Lyons:

Our system assigns people to a service when requests come in. At the entry level, our candidates have no choice where they go. For example, ten people might be required from the general stream for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and ten for the Department of Justice and Equality. It is a similar process for the candidates in the Irish stream in that they go where the request is. For example, we took two people from the Irish-language panel who now both work in areas where they communicate much of the time through Irish in the Garda. One of those people has subsequently been promoted. The system does not take away any opportunities. Candidates are assigned to wherever there is a vacancy but that is exactly how it works for the English-language stream as well. Once people come into the service, the mobility kicks in and they have more options, but it is a system that allocates people.