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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Between 2001 and 2003, the percentage increased from just over 8 per cent. to about 20 per cent. That was brought about primarily by the application of Patten, including the 50:50 recruitment policy, and people wishing to leave the service. How could the huge imbalance of the Catholic population in the police service have been addressed without radical action? It would take generations of natural wastage, and as a community we could not afford to wait for that to happen There is an insinuation that inferior candidates have qualified for the PSNI and are now on the streets as police officers. That is completely incorrect. Every new recruit who becomes a police officer in the PSNI is fully qualified in every respect. The PSNI has the highest standards in terms of the quality of recruits, whether Catholic, Protestant or neither, and that is reflected in the high success rate of its officers.