17.—(1) The Commission may carry out such assessment as it considers appropriate into recruitment practices of—

(a) any public service body, or

(b) any class of public service bodies,

to which section 5(d) relates, either generally or with regard to specific positions or a class of positions, and may make a report on the matter to the Minister.

(2) The Commission may make such recommendations as it considers appropriate in a report under this section, including any recommendation that an order be made under section 6(1) in respect of a specific position or a class of positions.

(3) Where—

(a) a report made to the Minister under this section contains a recommendation that an order be made under section 6(1) in respect of a specific position or a class of positions, and

(b) no such order has been made within 2 years of the Minister receiving the report,

then the Minister shall lay a report on the matter before each House of the Oireachtas within the next 10 days on which the House concerned has sat after the end of that period of 2 years.

(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply if, before the expiration of the period of 2 years, the Minister lays a copy of the report before each House of the Oireachtas together with a statement that he or she does not intend to make an order as recommended by the Commission.