§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he keeps a list of possible nominees for public bodies and committees to which he is entitled to nominate; how many names are now before him; and how many of them are women.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees:In making public appointments it is necessary to secure people best fitted for the jobs in question. One aid to this is to take note of men and women with appropriate qualifications and experience, and it is always useful to hear of individual names. These records are being constantly updated, with the result that there is no settled total at any one time.