Police applicants 'discriminated'

Equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants were recommended

The police service's 50-50 recruitment policy has led to 440 Protestant applicants being discriminated against, the government has admitted.

The figure was revealed by Security Minister Ian Pearson in the Commons.

He said the policy was an exceptional way of addressing what he called an historical imbalance.

He also said the government was on target to achieve 30% Catholic representation in the PSNI by 2011.

The Patten Report recommended the 50-50 policy as a key element of the Good Friday Agreement.

"In 1998 when the Patten Commission was conducting its investigation, only 8.3% of regular officers were from the Roman Catholic community," said Mr Pearson on Wednesday.

"As of 1 March that figure stands at 17.18% with 1,733 recruits having been selected for appointment on a 50-50 basis.

"Our goal is to increase Catholic representation to 30% by 2010/11. I am pleased to say we are very much on target to achieve that goal."

Meanwhile, more than 300 police officers have lost a case in which they alleged age discrimination by the chief constable and the Northern Ireland Office.

They had claimed they were being forced to remain in the police while older colleagues with less service were leaving with big severance deals under the Patten recommendations.