Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Would Mr. Fraser not agree that when somebody is appointed to a position on a temporary basis and the recruitment process is run after he or she has been appointed, that would appear not to be best practice? This is what happened in this case, given that the recruitment process did not happen until this year, when the most recent acting Secretary General - now the appointed Secretary General - was already in place. The person in the position would obviously have a natural advantage. That is not to cast any doubt on the integrity or the ability of the person who occupies the position, but it seems to be an unusual way of doing it. It was clear from the word go, from 27 or 29 June last year, in the days following the formation of the Government, that this position was going to become vacant. Covid or no Covid, much had reopened at that point. Why was a proper recruitment process not run in the months following that? It is not clear, from either the correspondence or the answers Mr. Fraser has given, why that did not happen.