Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In the context of public confidence in the authority and in not being perceived as a body that is in any way dominated by the professions, there is an advantage in the chairman being a lay person. The professions themselves have had lay people chairing certain committees on occasion for the same reason. It is appropriate that the chairperson be a lay person, but I am interested in what the Deputy had to say about the members themselves electing who might be the chair. There could be problems with this because I would have concerns the body could start off in a divisive way where, for example - and I am not saying this would happen - all of the representatives of the legal profession wanted a particular individual as chairperson but all of the other lay persons other than this individual wanted someone else. It could sow the seeds of dissension from day one in the manner in which the authority operated.

In the context of the lay people being independently nominated, it was felt an appointment of one of these as chairperson is an appropriate way to go so there is no lobbying or pressure put on people who have only just met each other, as the first members of the authorities, to determine who should chair. This could be a matter of considerable difficulty at the start of the body, as a group of people which has just come together may not be able to make a judgment as to who should be the appropriate person to chair. They may not know each other sufficiently well. There are inherent difficulties in it being an election process. It would be different if these were people who had worked together for a long period of time, for example on a committee, and after years working together were going to elect, perhaps by secret ballot or otherwise, who their chairperson should be. This is a way to ensure no one can suggest the Government is in any way interfering because the nominees are independent of the Government, but an appointment is made to avoid difficulty and dissension with regard to the day-to-day interaction between members of the authority or at meetings because they start off with some God almighty row as to who should chair it. I am very anxious this does not happen.