asked the Taoiseach whether he will give sympathetic consideration to the proposal that third-class fares of applicants for posts filled by the Local Appointments Commission should be paid to the centre at which the interviews are being held, a practice which has been adopted in many other countries.

The practice of requiring candidates for public appointments to pay out of their own pockets any travelling or other expenses they may incur applies to competitions conducted by both the Civil Service and the Local Appointments Commissioners. It would not be defensible to make the concession suggested by the Deputy in the case of competitions for local appointments without extending it also to competitions for Civil Service appointments, in which large numbers of candidates are young persons entirely dependent on parents who are often of very limited means.

In the case of local appointments, the expense of giving effect to the Deputy's suggestion would have to be met by the several county and county borough councils, which are required to refund to the Exchequer the net expenditure of the Local Appointments Commission in excess of any receipts such as fees. In the case of Civil Service appointments, the expenses would have to be met out of State funds. It would, in my opinion, be unreasonable to impose on the general body of ratepayers or taxpayers the burden of expenses which are incurred by the candidates in their own personal interests.

A further consideration is that the payment of candidates' expenses, wholly or partly, out of public moneys would tend to encourage frivolous candidature by persons who did not themselves feel that they had any real prospect of success. Besides adding considerably to the expense of conducting competitions, this would throw a burden of fruitless work on the staffs of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissions and would lead to further delay in the making of public appointments.

I should like to say, however, that the Local Appointments Commissioners do everything in their power to ensure that the expenses of candidates are kept to a minimum. For example, arrangements are made for one board to interview candidates for a number of appointments of the same type whenever this is feasible, and, in this way, candidates are relieved, so far as practicable, of the need to make frequent journeys for the purpose of attendance for interview.

asked the Taoiseach whether he is prepared to recommend to the Local Appointments Commission that a system of short-listing should be established in order to obviate the necessity for professional men of making unnecessarily long journeys for interview.

I am informed by the Local Appointments Commissioners that they have at various times considered the possibility of adopting a system of "short-listing" but that, after careful consideration, they have come to the conclusion that such a system would not be practicable or desirable. Apart from serious administrative difficulties which would be involved, it would seem invidious to deny to any candidate claiming to possess the required qualifications the opportunity of proving before an interview board the value of his qualifications and experience having regard to those of other candidates.