§ (2) The Committee shall consist of six members, of whom one shall be appointed by the Treasury, one by the Government of Southern Ireland, one by the Government of Northern Ireland, two by the existing Irish officers, and one (who shall be chairman) by the Lord Chief Justice of England:
§ Provided that after the existing Irish officers have been allocated in manner hereinafter provided, of the members of the Committee appointed by the existing Irish officers one shall be appointed by such of those officers as have become officers of the Government of Southern Ireland, and one by such of those officers as have become officers of the Government of Northern Ireland.
§ (5) The Committee may act by any three members, and notwithstanding any vacancy in their number, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, the Committee may regulate their own procedure.
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSI beg to move, in Sub-section (2), to leave out the word "six" ["the Committee shall consist of six members"], and to insert instead thereof the word "seven."
Under the provisions of the Bill as it stands now there is a Civil Service Committee of six members who have amongst their duties that of allocating the civil servants in Ireland between the Northern 1309 and Southern Governments. I am altering that from six to seven, in order that there shall be an odd number in case of difference of opinion, and also in order that there may be one more Government representative on the Committee. There will be on the Committee seven members: one appointed by the Treasury, one by a British Secretary of State, one by the Government of Southern Ireland, one by the Government of Northern Ireland, two by the existing Irish officers, and a Chairman appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of England.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendment made: In Subsection (]), after the word "Treasury" ["of whom one shall be appointed by the Treasury"] insert the words "one by a Secretary of State.—[Sir L. Worthington-Evans.]
Captain CRAIGI beg to move, in Sub-section (1), after the word "officers" ["two by the existing Irish officers"] to insert the words "one of whom shall be chosen by the Council of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants (Ireland)."
Of the seven members of the Committee the right hon. Gentleman has just mentioned, two are to be appointed by the civil servants themselves. My Amendment is that one of these two should be chosen by the Council of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants in Ireland. The Civil Service in Ireland, as in England, contains a considerable proportion of what I might call professional or technical gentlemen. There are in the Board of Works, for instance, members of both the Institution of Architects and the Institute of Civil Engineers. We have in the Civil Service members of the Surveyors' Institution and the Medical Association, and in the Local Government Board there are a considerable number of members of the medical profession. There are solicitors and I have no doubt there are also barristers and members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. These gentlemen are, generally speaking, at the head of the various Departments of the Civil Service, and they claim, as I think rightly, that one of the two representatives of the Civil Service on this Committee, which is to have the allocation of the different members of the Civil 1310 Service to the two Parliaments in Ireland and to have a great many other important matters devolved upon them, should be chosen by them. As these are probably the most highly-trained men technically, and, if I may use the expression, highly-educated members of the Civil Service who to a certain degree form a class by themselves, it is reasonable that of these two appointments one should be chosen by those professional gentlemen. I put down the Amendment that they should be chosen by the Institute of, Professional Civil Servants because I think that is the most satisfactory way of choosing them, because this institution of Professional Civil Servants is composed of these very gentlemen on whose behalf I have been moving this Amendment.
§ Mr. HENRYAs the Clause stood before the Amendment which we have recently carried, the Committee was to consist of six members. The number has been increased to seven, and the seventh member is to be elected by the Secretary of State. For the purpose of my argument, I will deal with the Clause as it stood before it was amended. Of the six members, one was to be appointed by the Treasury, one by the Government of Southern Ireland, one by the Government of Northern Ireland, two by the existing Irish officers, and one by the Lord Chief Justice of England. There is a provision in the case of the two members to be appointed by the existing Irish officers that one is to be appointed by the officers of the Government of the Southern Parliament and one by the officers of the Government of the Northern Parliament. If the Amendment now moved is carried, and one of them is to be appointed by the Council of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants in Ireland, it will disturb the balance between Northern and Southern Ireland. When the Clause was originally drafted, the General Association of Civil Servants was consulted, and they approved of the form, and it was adopted and the appointments divided between Northern and Southern Ireland. The Amendment to give to this body of professional civil servants the right to nominate one member would disturb the balance, and, if I may put it mildly, it is much fairer to give representation to the civil ser- 1311 vants irrespective of whether they are professional or not.
Captain CRAIGIn view of the next Sub-section, which, to some extent, meets my wishes, I beg leave to withdraw my Amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Further Amendment made: In Subsection (5), leave out the word "three," and insert instead thereof "four."— [.Sir L. Worthington Evans.]