Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have four very short observations to make, a number of which occurred to me while Deputy Fleming was speaking. We are all aware that particular consultants who consulted for the Department of Finance in the old days before separation would have derived a significant portion of their income from advising

Departments. I am sure there are plenty of other people in that category. They may not be Government advisers per sebut they are consultants to Government Departments and derive a substantial amount of money from being consultants to Government Departments. This should be considered.

In respect of getting one's head around whether one is category A, B, or C, I used to dread having to make these declarations every year, not because I did not want to make them but because I was afraid that I would not declare something I should have declared. Alternatively, it could relate to something one's child or spouse has. People tend to declare all around them because they are afraid they might miss something. One thing in Mr. Beausang's presentation I tried to get my head around is the difference between a category A, B and C declarant. As Deputy Fleming pointed out, category A should possibly contain a category of official that is not included based on equivalence in respect of responsibility and ability to influence decisions. My next question concerns category B officials and how this legislation might change the way people view public service. I am putting this forward from the perspective of a devil's advocate. Is there a danger that we can go so far in making everything so open and transparent that nobody actually wants to do the job? Am I right in saying that it is only category A where individuals declare their private declarable interests, in other words, their shareholdings and the moneys they might have in land or buildings? Am I right in saying that declaring those declarable interests only applies to those in category A?