Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Two issues arise. The first is openness, which means having in place an open process by which people can apply. The transparency of the appointment is another issue. On the appointment, a clearly independent process is required for selecting a candidate from a pool of individuals who apply for the position. The process must be open, fair and transparent. We must not allow a perception to arise that the Minister will be able to appoint someone to the position owing to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. For this reason, I ask the Minister of State to indicate what methodology he and the Department intend to use to deal with the appointment of a chief executive of Sport Ireland.