Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy might qualify on many. The amendment will make the promotion and use of the Irish language visible to the Minister of the day when he or she is going to fill the board. It will very much put that on his or her radar. I believe it is quite significant and Conradh na Gaeilge does too. I am pleased we have been able to do that. That is the agreement bit.

Where I do have a different view is in respect of quotas on the board. My fundamental problem with that is that there are so many groups that could make that argument. One could argue that we should have a quota of people who are speaking up for or representing those with a disability or have a disability themselves, for example. The Deputy and I would see great benefit in that expertise being reflected. However, if one starts carving up the numbers on a relatively small board with specific ring-fenced quotas, the flexibility of the Minister to put together a competency-based board in the round is diminished. That is my view. I am making this point in a genuinely non-partisan sense. I trust that the Minister of the day will make the correct appointments through a rigorous public appointments process and on the basis of the criteria set out, now including the Irish language as a specific criterion. That is giving the Irish language a prominence that we have chosen not to give to some other areas that one could argue are of equal importance. My worry is that if quotas of 20% were to be introduced in respect of various specific criteria, there could only be five such apportionments. That is the challenge. We have done this. I did it in the Department of Health when I introduced the new HSE board. One has to decide whether a board should be representational or competency-based. I am not suggesting those are mutually exclusive but we are going for a competency-based board and the promotion and use of the Irish language will be one of the criteria. That is my best way of explaining it.

I am a little terrified by the idea that appointees will have to show their results in a particular test. For example, I appoint people to the board of Science Foundation Ireland. They are very qualified and accomplished people. I have never asked them to show me what they got in a science exam or a maths exam. I am not dismissing these ideas out of hand; I am just thinking out loud somewhat. I cannot think of a comparable situation in which we tell people to show us their grades but I accept that is the position Conradh na Gaeilge and the Deputy have put forward. My view is that, comparing where we are at now with the HEA board and where we will be at as a result of the legislation, the visibility and promotion and use of the Irish language will be significantly enhanced in the context of its inclusion as a criterion for qualification for a person joining the board. The Deputy and I will not agree on this but I believe that to go further could be somewhat unworkable or challenging in terms of trying to balance the ranges of interest and expertise one would want on the board.