The government wants companies to take on more older unemployed workers but is setting a bad example itself, the Telegraaf reported on Friday.

The number of people over the age of 50 joining the civil service in 2017 actually fell slightly compared with the previous year, the paper said. And the over-50s now make up 11% of the national civil service workforce, down from 15% in 2015.

The figures are particularly remarkable because in 2016, the government allocated €68m to boosting the job opportunities for the older unemployed, the paper points out.

‘Government HR managers are making the same choices as industry,’ said Reinier Catelein, of white collar union De Unie.

Christian Democrat MP Pieter Heerma told the paper that he would raise the issue in parliament. ‘You would expect the government to set a good example,’ he said.

A spokesman for the home affairs ministry, which is in charge of the civil service, said that officials pick ‘the most suitable person’ for the job.