§ Mr. McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to include Irish as a category in his Department's ethnic monitoring of staff recruitment. [63880]
§ Mr. Chris SmithThe overriding principle on recruitment within the Civil Service is that procedures should be fair, and selection should be on merit at each stage.
Monitoring in the area of staff recruitment within DCMS is based on ethnic origin, not nationality. The nine categories monitored are based on those used in the 1991 census, which did not include an Irish category. This will be reviewed following any suggested changes for the 2001 Population Census.