I move:—
"That a sum not exceeding £1,650 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st March, 1924, to pay the salaries and expenses of the Civil Service Commission."
This is a new service. The Commission was set up under the Civil Service Regulation Act of 1923, which expired on the 8th February. A new Act has since come into operation, and the officers of the Civil Service Commission, now that permanent legislation has been secured, will be appointed definitely to their position. For instance, the salary of the Secretary at present is paid from the vote of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and he is paid an allowance from this vote. But now, from the 1st April, he will be paid entirely from the Civil Service Commission Vote. The same applies to the next officer. The Commission so far has held, I think, 16 examinations of one sort and another, for Customs and Excise, County Surveyors, two examinations for writing assistants, temporary typists, examination of D.M.P. for promotion, an examination for Marine posts in connection with the transport section of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, inspectors of weights and measures in the Gárda Síochána, boy messengers in the Post Office in Dublin, and through the provinces, and other examinations of that sort. The number of candidates that have so far sat in examinations held by the Commission, is 1,608. The examinations have been held in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, Sligo, Athlone, Limerick, Tralee, Waterford and Dundalk. There has been a great variety of standard.
This Estimate was prepared two or three weeks ago, and I think the amount is a little more than will be required, but I could not give the exact figure at the moment. The examiners are drawn from the Universities, and the Secondary Schools and the superintendents of the examinations are generally secondary teachers. The only figure that I see which would strike one as a bit high is the amount for subsitence allowances and for travelling expenses. I believe that amount will not be required. That is an excessive item in the Estimate. All the other items, I think, are low. The hiring of examination rooms and so forth does not amount to much.