§ Mr. CLANCYasked the Secretary to the Treasury, with reference to the system of appointment and promotion in the Irish Valuation Department, whether, in view of the fact that the upper section valuers of the General Valuation Department, Dublin, who are naturally the officers to whom the more responsible valuing work is entrusted, do not possess the professional qualifications which are alleged to be necessary for their junior colleagues, he will inquire further into the necessity for an examination conducted on the existing lines, considering that this method of appointing valuers has resulted in recent years in the importation of nine Englishmen, who possessed no previous knowledge of Ireland, and that three such candidates were appointed as a result of the last examination?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe upper section valuers, none of whom have had less than twenty-four years' training and experience in this or the Ordnance Survey Office, would doubtless have been competent to deal with important valuing work at a much earlier date than they were had they had professional training prior to being appointed on this staff. Many of the junior professional valuers are now doing just as important work as they are. The present system need not result in fewer Irishmen being appointed than did the old one when the men were taken from the ranks of second division clerks.