This is a Bill to make permanent provision for the method to be adopted in making appointments to the Civil Service. It provides that, generally speaking, admission shall be by open, competitive examination. That is the system which will on the whole give us the best service. Alternative methods might be put up and it might be possible to have panels for selection which would give us as good a Civil Service and leave us a choice as well. But that would be subject to suspicion at all times, and it would be very difficult to ensure that at no time was there ground for suspicion. Consequently, the Bill is brought in in the form in which it stands. In certain cases, power is taken to have the examination confined to special classes. That is desirable. For instance, at the present time it is desirable, in view of Army demobilisation, that certain appointments should be confined to men with Army service. We are able, with the machinery that this Bill provides, to have competitive examinations for the various candidates in a class which are eligible, and to get the best possible material from the class to which, for public reasons, we desire to confine the appointments. In certain other cases examination may be dispensed with— that is, in cases where there are professional or other peculiar qualifications. It is quite obvious that, while for the junior posts and the ordinary run of posts, competitive examination is good enough, there are positions for which you could not rely on getting the best or nearly the best candidate by any method of examination. There is a class of post which requires a man of experience, administrative ability, certain force of character, and knowledge of the world, and you might easily have the best candidate for that class of position surpassed in examination by a bookworm or quite a young student, who would be altogether unfit for the post.
It is provided that in cases like that, and in other special cases, it will be possible to admit persons to the Civil Service otherwise than by examination if a certificate is issued by the Civil Service Commission, and they can refuse it when any special name is proposed to them. That certificate must be gazetted, so that Clause 6 does not provide what might be described as a "back door entrance" to the Civil Service. Nobody can be admitted secretly or privately to the Civil Service by the operation of this clause. It simply gives an alternative to the examination system in certain cases where examinations would not be satisfactory. It cannot be used, and will not be used, for ordinary appointments to the Civil Service. We have heard a lot of talk of the Commission which was appointed under the Act, which this Bill is intended to replace, not having held examinations. The present time is not the time to rush into the holding of examinations and to recruit large numbers of people to the permanent Civil Service. We have really to finish our stocktaking and to see what services we are going to retain and whether we require any additional permanent Civil Servants.
We have considerable numbers of temporary Civil Servants, and if services are to be dispensed with these Civil Servants can be dispensed with. If we add unduly to the number of permanent Civil Servants we would be tying up our own hands. It is not possible, as many people would desire us, to rush in and hold examinations, right, left and centre. Certain examinations have been held. For instance, there have been examinations for Customs and Excise, and they were confined to men with Army service. Fifty posts were offered there, and there were four posts offered in the National Health Insurance Department. The staff of the Revenue Department is, of course, a staff that has grown greatly, and it was found necessary and justifiable to make certain permanent appointments in the Revenue Service. An open examination to qualify men for appointments as County Surveyors has been held by the Civil Service Commissioners. There have been examinations in the Civic Guard for men to act as Inspectors of Weights and Measures. Examinations are being held for women Writing Assistants who will largely do certain work thrown on the Land Commission by the passing of the Land Act. Some of the appointments to these positions will be reserved for women who hold temporary posts in the Government Service, and other posts will be open to girls of school age.
There will be examinations also for technical appointments in certain departments of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Examinations are also pending, limited to boy messengers in the Post Office, in connection with a number of permanent posts as postmen. For the future, appointments of Shorthand Clerks and Typists will be made, in Dublin, from a list compiled as a result of competitive examination. As far as possible we will keep to the competitive examination system for all appointments. It will be more satisfactory in every respect. We will know where we are, and the examinations will give an equal opportunity to everybody. In the past Typists and Shorthand-Typists have been recruited in a rather casual way, and although the appointments are only from week to week, we feel that the best thing to do is to draw up a list as the result of competitive examinations and take from that list in order of merit.
The Bill has no new features. It was before the Dáil, and I do not think it was much discussed when it was last brought forward. It continues the system with which we are familiar. It has worked well with the British, and has given them an efficient and very capable Civil Service. It has done the work of administration exceedingly well, on the whole. I believe with us the system will also work well, and as time goes on we will be able to get a good Civil Service at as cheap a rate as will be consistent with requirements. The system will give a chance to all who may aspire to enter the Civil Service, and it will give fair play all round.
