Commission.

Members of the anonymous group this week said they were concerned the body responsible for hiring civil servants has become nothing more than a "rubber stamp'' for senior Government officials.

Their concerns were raised in a recent letter to the Commission, after they claimed qualified Bermudian applicants for nine Government auditing jobs had been rejected.

One of the group claimed at least six of the 16 Bermudian applicants were qualified. But they were not granted an interview with the Commission, while non-Bermudians and unqualified Bermudians were.

They have not yet received an explanation.

Last month Auditor General Mr. Larry Dennis denied that Bermudian applicants had been shunned.

He said almost all of the 36 applicants -- of whom 16 were Bermudian and 20 non-Bermudian, were interviewed except for one or two whose work and background he was already familiar with.

He insisted every Bermudian applicant had been dealt with fairly. He said after the interviews were conducted he recommended six Bermudians -- including two accounting students working toward their qualifications, and three non-Bermudians for the posts.

It was up to the Commission to make the final decision, he said, adding the Bermudians turned down were considered unqualified because they had been out of the auditing field for several years, working as controllers at small companies.

But one group member said if the Commission was only a "rubber stamp'' to the Auditor General's recommendations, "this was not in the interest of Bermudians at all''.

He said it might be time to have a screening body or individual between senior civil servants' recommendations and the PSC's decisions.

The group, in its letter to the Commission secretary, also disputed that Bermudian applicants from smaller companies were unqualified.

"The Auditor General, himself, had been out of the auditing field for several years when he accepted his current position,'' it stated.

"Is he then saying that he is unqualified to be Auditor General. Furthermore, we are aware that the Commission interviewed applicants who have been out of the auditing field for several years.'' The group also denied the Bermudians who were turned down worked as controllers at small companies.

Noting Mr. Dennis claimed accounting students were chosen for the lower-level posts, the group said the advertisement called for recently qualified chartered accountants or certified public accountants.

"Accounting students are not qualified accountants, recent or otherwise,'' they said in a statement.

"The Auditor General's response is contradictory in that he describes the qualified Bermudians who were turned down as being both unqualified and over- qualified,'' they added. "Reasonably-thinking persons can read between the lines.''