Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important that there is a distinction between the powers of Government and the powers of the Oireachtas. This person and this new regulatory structure will have to be accountable to the committee for the decisions it makes. We will be going down a very dangerous road if we bring appointments to the floor of the Dáil and to have a star chamber, as it were. Perhaps that is to exaggerate for effect but a person's politics should not necessarily be the focus. The focus needs to be the skillset that is required. Most people in Ireland have voted one way or the other at different times in their lives. That should not necessarily be held against a person unless of course he or she has a connection with something inappropriate or corruption. That should rule the person out. We have to trust some structure to assess the appropriate skillset of what is needed to provide an effective independent planning regulator's office.

The names that have been fully vetted under the system will be put before the Minister. I suspect it will be a small number of names, probably three or four, if even that. The Minister will make a recommendation to the Government for approval and he or she will have to be able to stand over it. In terms of opening it up to a broad political debate at that stage, I can understand why there is a need for accountability in the same way as chairmen on their appointment to various State bodies must appear before a committee, which is a good requirement and for which I advocated. As soon as this body is up and running, I expect the committee to immediately invite its representatives, essentially, to test them on where they see it going, how they will give leadership and respond to queries to ensure accountability to the committee.

With respect to the function of appointing somebody and the procedures place, my view generally is that the buck should stop with the Minister. Ultimately, it is the Minister who is responsible for setting up this body. The appointment will ultimately be made and approved by the Government, even though the name will go through a very robust vetting system to make sure inappropriate appointments will not be made. I make no bones in saying that in the past political appointments have not been appropriate, but the new systems in place have modernised the process. We are learning lessons from, for example, the review of An Bord Pleanála and others that have taken place. The system will have to stand up to scrutiny. When a recommendation is made to the Government, it needs to be guided by it in making a final appointment and being able to stand over it.