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

We had a long discussion earlier on the powers of the Minister versus the one the new office needed to have. We spent a good hour discussing and teasing out the issues involved. On appointments, whether it is a minority or a majority Government, Ministers and the Government need to take responsibility for certain matters, one of which is the finalisation of a decision-making process in making State board appointments. We have radically changed the way in which such appointments are made in recent years. That was the right thing to do and we will continue to develop that thought process, but this will be a competitive open process in which people who believe they have the skill set to do this job will be able to apply. They will go through a fairly robust assessment screening-interview process before the Public Appointments Service will recommend names of persons it regards have the skill set to do the job. Only at that point will a political decision be made that will be approved by the Cabinet. It will then be tested fully in the normal way by this committee and potentially others by bringing in the regulator and ensuring he or she is up to the job. That is a reasonable balance to strike in terms of the roles the different players involved in the decision-making process will play. Unfortunately, we have seen episodes in the Dáil Chamber that reflected a Star Chamber-type setting. I am not suggesting that is the case in ths instance, but I can understand why the point was made.