Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 19, to delete lines 5 to 8.

This amendment seeks the deletion of lines 5 to 8, section 12 6A (2) which states:

In the performance of his or her duties under subsection (1), the Chief Executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a policy.

My concern in this regard is in relation to directed investment. Let us look at what the NTMA has done, not through its own willingness but through directed investment by previous Governments, and the current Government. Substantial billions of euro of taxpayers' money, which previously was earning a return of 6% to 8%, was invested in the broken banks, namely, AIB, Bank of Ireland and others. We are unlikely to see any return on that investment. If we get a return on the capital sum we will be lucky.
Under this section the Committee of Public Accounts is not allowed to question the chief executive in relation to any directed investment. This is provided for in the subsection which, as I said earlier, states that the chief executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a policy.
I will give an example in relation to the National Pension Reserve Fund. When I was elected to the Seanad in 2007 there was approximately €23 billion in that fund. There is only approximately €6 billion in it now. The remainder of it was invested in the banks. Under this legislation the CEO of that fund cannot appear before the Committee of Public Accounts and express any view whatsoever on the merits of the policy which allowed approximately 80% of that fund to be whittled away by the decisions of previous Governments. I believe that is lacking. People who meet the criteria to be the CEO of an agency and are paid huge bonuses for doing their jobs should be able to give their expert opinion on whether a decision, direction or order was appropriate and met the needs of society, the economy and the agency.