To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications were received from (a) Roman Catholics and (b) Protestants for the most recent recruitment intake to the Police Service for Northern Ireland; and how many (i) Roman Catholic and (ii) Protestant applicants have been accepted for recruitment to the PSNI in this intake. [113785]

Application and appointment numbers to date from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's recruitment competitions 3 and 4 are as follows.

	Protestant	Roman Catholic	Non-determined	Total
Competition 3
Applications	2,971	1,640	63	4,674
Appointments	79	83	0	162
Competition 4
Applications	2,817	1,477	74	4,368
Appointments	30	37	0	68

Further appointments remain to be made from both Competitions 3 and 4.Competition 5 was launched in March 2003, and has attracted over 6,000 applicants, of whom 36.6 per cent, are Catholic. The selection process is ongoing, and appointments will not commence until the autumn.