§ MR. T. HARRINGTON (Dublin Harbour)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that Mr. Percy E. Ludgate, of Drumcondra, passed the Civil Service examination for assistant clerkship, abstractor class, in October, 1903, and was medically examined by the physician selected by the Civil Service Commissioners and declared fit for the service; that, without having received an appointment as assistant clerk, he competed successfully for a second division clerkship, but failed to satisfy the examining physician as to his fitness; that, in consequence of the latter medical examination, Mr. Ludgate"s certificate of qualification given in the former case has been cancelled, thus penalising him for one appointment by reason of his success in securing another; and, if so, whether he will take steps to have him medically examined with the view to his securing one or other of the above appointments, and will he say whether there is any difference in the medical standard of qualification required for assistant clerkship or second-division clerkship.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY (Mr. VICTOR CAVENDISH,) Derbyshire, W.The facts are 620 substantially as stated in the hon. Member"s Question, except that Mr. Ludgate"s certificate as assistant clerk was never granted, and therefore was not cancelled; and that the date of the examination referred to was February, 1903, and not October, 1903. As nearly a year had elapsed since Mr. Ludgate"s medical examination for an assistant clerkship, it was necessary to re-examine him before issuing him a certificate for a second-division clerkship. The result of the medical examination proving unsatisfactory the Civil Service Commissioners were unable to grant a certificate for either position. The medical requirements are practically the same in both cases.