asked the Minister for Finance whether under the arrangements for the transfer of temporary clerks from one office in which they are redundant to another in which extra staff is required, any such continued employment has been found for clerks who had not served in the National Army.

In finding continued employment for temporary staff released from work on which they had been engaged, preference is given to available ex-members of the National Army, and suitable ex-Army candidates have been found for all, except in one recent vacancy, where a knowledge of chemistry was necessary, and for which no candidate with that qualification could be found amongst the ex-Army men available for transfer.

Are we to take it that there is a preference given, provided equal qualifications apply?

No. If the efficiency of any candidate is very definitely greater and very clearly greater than that of another candidate, the most efficient one gets it. There is a preference decidedly for ex-Army men. If two men possessed almost the same qualifications, even though the ex-Army man might not be quite so good, he would be preferred.

Does the Minister agree that continuous service of from three to five years in respect of men already in the employment of the Government, will count as a qualification, provided they have done their work well and are good men?

Yes. Consideration is given to the service that a candidate may have. People with shorter service will have to go before those with longer service, subject again to the qualifications I have stated in regard to efficiency. If there is a very notable difference between two men from the point of view of efficiency, that might outweigh longer service.

Is the Minister aware there are at the present moment at least twenty men under notice, who were employed in Government service and whose employment will terminate at the end of this month? These men have from four to five years' service, and they have good records. Is the notice to be enforced?

I do not really know what is the record of any of those men.

They have five years' continuous service, and that is an indication that their records must be good.

Were they five years serving in the Army, or was it in temporary employment in an office?

I really do not know who are the men Deputy Byrne refers to. I do not know anything about the qualifications of any man unless I get notice beforehand.

Is the Minister aware that some of the men I referred to are in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce? They are under notice of dismissal, although they have good continuous service. What is the cause of the dismissal?

I know nothing about it as notice has not been given in regard to this matter.

Is it the policy of the Government to dispense with temporary employees who have had up to five years' service for the purpose of creating a vacancy for a man who was in the National Army and who served for a much shorter period?

No, sir.