andMr. MacSharry asked the Minister for Defence the number of people employed in his Department in each of the last four years; the number of people employed in each of the same years without having taken part in a public competition; and the number of people employed in the past six months without having taken part in a public competition.

As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to circulate it with the Official Report.

Following is the statement:

Department of Defence

Notes:

(i) Civilians employed with the Defence Forces at various Barracks and posts under the authority of the Defence Act 1954 have not been included.

(ii) "Number employed" is taken to mean the number who commenced employment in the period in question.

(iii) "Public competition" is taken to mean a competition conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners.