A report compiled by the Fair Employment Commission (FEC) has warned that there was "still considerable way to go" before there was fair participation of Catholics in senior posts in sections of Northern Ireland's public sector.
The Civil Service, which is the second largest employer of senior staff in the public sector, was identified as having a particularly low Catholic representation. The FEC report, published today, said, however, that there had been a "marked improvement" in the representation of Catholics in senior positions in the public sector between 1990 and 1995.
In that time, overall Catholic representation in senior posts increased by 4 per cent to 33.6 per cent of the total. While this was an improvement, the FEC pointed out that Catholics make up more than 40 per cent of those available for work.
The commission chairman, Mr Bob Cooper, welcomed the progress made, but said it "must be accelerated".
The Northern Ireland Civil Service has 3,200 senior employees, but just 24.9 per cent of these are Catholics, the lowest share among any of the sectors examined in the report.
Between 1990 and 1995, Catholic representation overall increased by 3.8 per cent. However, the report said that in specialist posts, Catholic representation was "very low, particularly among the most senior employees".
In the highest salary band in the Civil Service, those earning more than £38,300 per year, Catholics accounted for just 17.4 per cent of the total. This represented an increase of 2.8 per cent over the figure for 1990.
In the lowest salary band, between £20,300 and £28,599, Catholic representation rose from 23.4 per cent in 1990 to 26.3 per cent in 1995.
The North's 26 district councils had the second lowest share of Catholics in senior posts after the Civil Service. Catholic representation in 1995 averaged 28 per cent, up six per cent from the 1990 figure.
The Education and Library Boards had the highest share of Catholics in senior posts at 44.2 per cent, an increase of 4.2 per cent.