Civil Service (United Kingdom) from the Treasury, and given to a new Department, and that the "fast stream" recruitment process for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds. The new Department was set up by Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government in 1968 and named the Civil Service Department, known as CSD. The first Minister was Cabinet Minister Lord Shackleton, also Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. The first Permanent Secretary was Sir William Armstrong, who moved over from his post as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. After the 1970 General
Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland was essentially a transitional arrangement and in 1924 was replaced by the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1924. The result of these acts was the Civil Service Commissioners (later the "Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners"), a commission of three persons charged with determining the standards for entry to the "Civil Service of the Government of Saorstát Éireann". Entry to the civil service was generally by competitive examination, and a number of qualifications such as ability, age, character, health and knowledge could be predefined. Applicants also had to meet nationality requirements. The competitive examination system was created to