Hail, rain or shine, will Valerie Roche notice the weather? All through the winter she'll travel on the Mullingar to Dublin bus, studying as she goes, her head buried in a books.

Roche has worked as a clerical officer in the Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners for the past two years. This year she began a four-year business degree course with the Institute of Public Administration. Roche enjoys her work, and also the opportunities it affords her to study.

The next four years are bound to fly, as she travels through the countryside, following a distance-learning course, studying and preparing for her exams. The journey takes about 90 minutes. She's already rising at 5.15 a.m. in order to be at her desk on time, and avoiding the rush hour. Her day in the office can begin any time between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. After her day ends, between 4.30 and 5 p.m., she studies on the homeward journey also.

"A couple of my aunts were in the civil service and my godmother as well and they all had families and they thought it was very flexible and handy."

There's a gentle hum in the building when she arrives. It's the sound of people at work. The bright, modern offices look out onto a sunny Grand Canal Street. It's a typical day at the commission - quiet but industrious.

Her work in the commission, which recruits for all the general civil service grades, is in the equality unit of the testing section. This unit must assess all the recruitment tests on the basis of equality to ensure that no group is discriminated against. Roche's work is developing in line with the introduction of new procedures, which followed the enactment of the Employment Equality Act in 1998.

"I've been very lucky in the sections I've been in. I've been getting very interesting work," she says. "My experience has been really interesting. It's not grey and boring. That's the stigma," she says. "And it's thought that people in the civil service just sit there and dream - that's not so either, let me tell you," she says with passion.

In the unit where she works "we basically make sure that there's a balance between those who are chosen and those who apply. It's to make sure that the tests do not discriminate against people. We are equality-proofing the tests."

It's important to be organised, she says. "You need to be fairly organised and you have to be able to deal with people," she explains, as part of her job involves supervising at the testing centres around the State.

"You need to be able to see other people's point of view. It's important to be flexible also. Things can change fairly quickly. You have to be prepared," she continues. At this stage, she is thinking about applying for a promotion to become an executive officer.

Working in the commission is brilliant, she says. Being able to study "was the main thing that attracted me to it". Flexi-time is another major advantage of her job, she says.

"I wouldn't be able to go back to normal time. I get time off for study and for exams. And they refund your fees at the end of the year."

The course is just what she wanted as she had always wanted to study business. After completing her Leaving Cert at St Michael's Holy Faith Girls' Secondary School, Finglas, Dublin, in 1996, she decided to get a job first and earn some money. She worked in Walton's music shop in North Frederick Street and "ended up staying there three years. I was just having too much fun," she says.

"It was a great job. I was doing musicals and singing," she says. "I knew I wanted to go back and study business. But I knew I would not go back to full-time study so I thought I'd try the civil service. It was the opportunity to study that attracted me here," she says.

She moved to Mullingar, Co Westmeath, a couple of years ago. The days are long but she's completely interested. "It's a long day but it's nice to get out of Dublin at weekends."