Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 8, line 22, after “term” to insert “and the salary of the Regulator shall be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas”.

This amendment relates to the term of office of the regulator. Section 11 provides that such office shall be for a period of seven years and allows for a second contract of seven years. The amendment seeks to insert that the salary of the regulator shall be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas. There are too many cases of Ministers having approval in this regard. We discussed the issue of payments and salaries in the public interest earlier. It would be good public practice if from now on the salaries of all heads of State bodies or agencies were approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas rather than by the board of the organisation concerned or the line Minister, even with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform or the Minister for Finance. It would be good practice if in future all such salaries were approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas.