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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

I concur fully with the remarks of my right hon. Friend. At the moment, in 2006, several hundred additional applications for places in the police from both communities are required. Therefore, there is no need for the systematic exclusion of some people on the grounds of religion. If I wanted to, I could refer to the Grand Committee in which, two weeks ago, the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) praised other parts of the public sector in Northern Ireland, such as the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, where the Protestant community is under-represented. But I do not demand a 50:50 recruitment policy to redress the problems in that organisation. Whatever the problems of recent years in the public sector—in the Child Support Agency, the Housing Executive or the civil service—we do not demand a 50:50 recruitment policy to deal with them.