Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (Renewal of Temporary Provisions) Order 2007

I understand the discomfort that has been caused in the past by the drafting of the letters that have been sent out. I do not have such a letter in front of me but I understand that, as of the most recent competition or the one before that, the nature of the letter gives people a more accurate explanation of why they have not been appointed. In some cases, it is not because of the 50:50 rule. That is the point. Let me give the example of the 11th competition, held in March 2006. There was a merit pool of 504 suitably qualified candidates. There were only 220 posts available—in other words, half the annual total. Five hundred and four suitably qualified candidates had gone through to the pool and there were only 220 posts. Therefore, a significant number of both Catholic and non-Catholic candidates were rejected, but not because they were not suitable and had not qualified. They were qualified; they were in the pool. The fact is that there were more of them than there were jobs available. It is as simple as that. There is no way round that while the numbers of the police service are fixed. We have no plans, as far as I know, for vastly increasing the police force. It is not justified.