§ 84. Mr. PETOasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, as regards officers of merchant ships holding second or first mates' certificates who have been interned for over two years, they will on release be given permission to present themselves for provisional masters' certificates of competency, full masters' certificates to be granted when they have put in the requisite qualifying service at sea?
Mr. ROBERTSProvisional certificates of competency are issued solely for the purpose of appointment to, or promotion in, the Royal Naval Reserve, and do not entitle the holder to act in the capacity shown on the certificate. It is not proposed to lay down a hard and fast rule as to the conditions on which interned officers of the mercantile-marine holding certificates of competency as second or first mate may be examined, 1827 on their release, for certificates of higher grade. Every case will be considered sympathetically on its merits.