Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I support the comments of Senator Prendergast about the one-sided contracts in AIB and other financial institutions. It is simply not good enough that people who failed to do their job in the interests of the businesses that employed them and, as a consequence, have given rise to so much angst economically for many people, are beneficiaries of golden parachutes that they had stitched into their contracts. It is unacceptable.

In the same way, I am appalled that the Government decided not to have senior positions in the Civil Service subject to open competition and it will use closed lists of people promoted from within. This reflects the incestuousness within the public service that has given rise to some of the problems we are experiencing. Huge failures on the part of public bodies and private institutions have resulted in the greatest recession in the history of the State. It is simply not good enough that people charged with responsibilities and who failed to deliver on them in a responsible manner are now beneficiaries of the significant lump sums and pensions that are being reported. Will the Government show some bottle by taking on this issue? If the Government cannot address the contracts in place, which may be underpinned by the constitutional rights of individuals, it should seriously consider a constitutional referendum in this regard. The public will not stand for huge tax increases to pay for the banking fiasco and the failures within the public service. The sooner governments show they have the necessary mettle to tackle this the better in the interests of everyone.

We have proposals for additions to the Committee of Selection. It is essential that the committee would take a close look at the workings of this House and that we do not experience the reputational damage people suffered as a consequence of some of its considerations. I ask that this should be a priority for the incoming Seanad committee to address serious issues in that regard.