§ Mr. McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to include Irish as a category in his Department's ethnic monitoring of staff recruitment. [63878]
§ Mr. SpellarMy Department's ethnic monitoring of Service and civilian recruitment is based solely on an applicant's ethnicity. The nine ethnic origin categories monitored by my Department are those used in the 1991 census which did not include an Irish category. They will be reviewed in the light of any suggested changes for the 2001 Population Census.