Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 3, line 15, after "Clerk" to insert "and Clerk-Assistant".

A new procedure is being provided for and I have not heard anybody complain about it to much. It is a welcome move to clarify how the Clerk of the Dáil would be appointed. We should use this provision to appoint the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil in a similar manner, given the additional responsibilities a person at that level holds, as it is a very high level job. In the event of the Clerk of the Dáil being sick or retiring, the Clerk Assistant steps into the Clerk's role and, therefore, the Clerk Assistant's position carries that onus. We saw what happened in recent times since the retirement of Kieran Coughlan. There are occasions when a person is in an acting role and has all the duties and responsibilities that the former holder of that position had. This proposal would allow a smooth transition in such a case but the person would have the same backing from Top Level Appointments Committee, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and from the Chairman of the Dáil, the Ceann Comhairle. It would be appropriate to provide for the appointment in this way of those two important positions.

The effect of the amendments would be to delete the section dealing with the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil and in section 5(1) after the word "Clerk" to insert "and Clerk-Assistant". The later text would be changed in that after "person" the words "for either of the positions" would be inserted and the word "competition" would be deleted and substituted with the word "competitions".These amendments in a sense provide that we would appoint a team when the Clerk of the Dáil is being appointed as we would have two people who, hopefully, would work hand in glove in those positions because of the importance of those roles they play in terms of the running of the House and the key role they play in the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Sin é.