§ Mr. SHEEHANasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he can state any definite grounds of objection to having appointments to the position of creamery instructors made by competitive examination; whether this method of filling appointments which require skill, experience, and high technical training is almost universally followed in all other Government Departments; and whether he is aware that many public bodies in Ireland, including the Cork County Council, now fill all the positions in their gift requiring skill and education by competitive examination?
§ The SOLICITOR-GENERAL for IRELAND (Mr. Redmond Barry)As my right hon. Friend the Vice-President stated in reply to a question asked by the hon. Member for North Cork on 26th February, 1908, the Department consider that the appointment of instructors in dairying by competitive examination would not secure the best men. The Department have no information with regard to the other matters dealt with in the question.