asked the Minister for the Public Service the subjects in which examination papers are set for entrants to each of the various grades in the civil service; and the subjects which are compulsory and those which are optional.

The information sought is in the form of a statement which, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate with the Official Report.

Following is the statement.

Examination papers set for entrance to each of the various grades in the Civil Service. (The information refers to competitions held regularly).

NOTES: (a) Requirements for the various grades are reviewed each time a competition comes to be held;

(b) The information given hereunder is based on the requirements which applied at the most recent competition, revised to take account of the Government's decision that Irish tests would normally be optional rather than compulsory. However, in the case of the competitions marked ‘*', the Civil Service Commission are in consultation with the Departments concerned as to their precise requirements in the light of the new policy;

(c) In the column "Other tests", the reference "optional language test" refers to the test to be taken by candidates who wish to have an assessment made of their capacity to communicate effectively in Irish and English.