asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that ex-servicemen serving under the jurisdiction of the British Government had the option of sitting for the examination held in London, Belfast, and other provincial centres in Great Britain in July, 1925, and that those who did not qualify at that examination have been appointed to the permanent class of the British Civil Service under what is known as the "Guinness Agreement" (Permanent Class), and if it had not been for the changed conditions of Government, temporary clerks (ex-servicemen) in the Irish Free State Service would now enjoy the same privileges as those serving under the British Government, and if the Minister could not take similar steps in the cases of British ex-servicemen serving in the Government Departments of the Irish Free State, and who sat for the examination held in June-July, 1925, and did not qualify, and appoint them on a similar basis.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - POSITION OF BRITISH EX-SERVICEMEN.
I am not aware of the arrangements that may have been made in Great Britain for continued employment of the temporary clerks referred to in the question or what their position would have been if there had been no change of Government. All temporary clerks, including these men, have already been given a special opportunity of obtaining permanent retention by means of a simple qualifying examination, and it is not considered that there is any ground for a further concession in favour of the clerks referred to in the question.