Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 38, line 7, to delete all words from and including "(1) There" down to and including line 10 and substitute the following:"(1) There is established, by virtue of this section, an office which shall be known as—

(a) Oifig an Choimisinéara um Chaighdéain san Earnáil Phoiblí, or

(b) in the English language, the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner.

(2) The holder of the office so established shall be known as—

(a) An Coimisinéir um Chaighdéain san Earnáil Phoiblí, or

(b) in the English language, the Public Sector Standards Commissioner,

who shall perform the functions conferred on him or her by this Act, and who is referred to in this Act as "the Commissioner".".

Amendment No. 20 is a technical amendment to section 26 which provides for the full title of the commissioner and his or her office to be included in Irish and English. It fits in with the fuller description of the office which is now included in the Long Title of the Bill.

Amendment No. 21 is a technical-type amendment. Section 26 deals with the establishment and functions of the new standards commissioner. I am proposing this amendment to subsection (12) to ensure that all current functions of the Standards in Public Office Commission are comprehensively transferred to the new commissioner.

Subsections (1) and (2) of amendment No. 22 provide clarification, as the role of public sector standards commissioner cannot be held under certain circumstances. These amendments are supplementary provisions in relation to section 26. A similar provision was included in the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.

Subsections (3) to (6) of this amendment are proposed for inclusion, on the advice of the Attorney General's office, to deal with instances where complaints are received against the new commissioner or deputy commissioner. The new section will allow the Minister to appoint another person to perform the functions of the commissioner or deputy commissioner in these situations. It will also allow the Minister to appoint another person to perform the functions where the commissioner or deputy commissioner is either unable to perform the functions or the office is vacant.

In these proposals, I am seeking to deal with an issue that was touched on by Deputies earlier. We will now have a standards commissioner who will have a significant amount of power. We lay out procedures where, if an individual has a concern in relation to how those powers have been discharged, it is open to the Minister to make an appointment for somebody else to discharge those duties for a period of time.