The Patten report has recommended that recruitment to the proposed new Northern Ireland Police Service be out-sourced to a specialist agency, and there should be an enhanced recruitment level for 10 years, taking equal proportions of Protestants and Catholics. All recruits must qualify on merit.
"The system we propose has been used successfully by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We estimate that the proportion of Catholic officers in the police should more than double in four years and reach 30 per cent or more within 10 years," Mr Patten said yesterday.
Despite the short timescale, those involved believe this aim is achievable.
He added that the success of this approach depended upon the leaders of the Catholic community - clergy, schoolteachers, politicians and others - helping to ensure that young Catholics applied to join the police.
Catholics currently account for 8 per cent of the RUC.
Recruitment would be contracted to a specialist agency which would advertise in the Republic and Britain, as well as in Northern Ireland. The Patten commission has also recommended that the Gaelic Athletic Association repeal Rule 21, which prohibits members of the police in Northern Ireland from being members of the association, because this might discourage young Catholics from joining.
Proposals to increase the representation of women and ethnic and other minorities are also included in the report.
In respect of female officers, it is noted that the problem is one of retention. Career breaks, job sharing and flexible working arrangement are outlined as possible remedies. The commission has also proposed reducing the size of the police force - although the rate of this downsizing would depend upon the security situation. The proposals suggest the regular force of 8,500 would decrease by 1,000, with the full-time reserve force of 2,900 officers also phased out.
This amounts to the current full-time strength being reduced from 11,400 to 7,500. However, it is envisaged that the part-time reserve would be enlarged, up to 2,500 officers.
The report suggests that RUC officers opting for early retirement should be treated "generously". Initial "exit" costs are estimated in the report at £148 million in the first year, falling sharply to £48 million in year two, with net savings after the fourth year.
The commission has recommended that the three holding centres at Castlereagh in Belfast, Gough Barracks in Armagh and Strand Road in Derry, should close "forthwith".
All suspects should be detained in "custody suites" in police stations.
The commission has also recommended that the police be equipped with a broader range of public order equipment than the RUC currently possesses, suggesting "sponge grenades", "pepper spray" and "foam batons" in order to reduce the need for plastic baton rounds.