My Department, which is responsible for overall manpower planning in the Civil Service, is keenly conscious of the fact that former civil servants are a potentially important source of recruits to the Civil Service. Consistent with this, the Civil Service Commission, which is responsible for hiring most civil servants, has taken action aimed at specifically targeting former civil servants in terms of recruitment. The key commission initiative in this regard was the announcement in late 1999 of a clerical officer competition confined exclusively to former civil servants to fill vacancies primarily in the Dublin area. This competition attracted 1,116 applications and has yielded several hundred new recruits. In light of this outcome, I expect that the Civil Service Commission will organise further recruitment competitions directed exclusively at former civil servants. These competitions may extend beyond clerical officer to other general service recruitment grades.