Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 25:

In page 22, line 10, after “Minister” to insert “and the relevant Oireachtas Sectoral Committee”.

This amendment concerns a new concept, and one that is almost uniquely new to Ireland, namely, that when appointments of this nature are being made, there should be a ratification process within the relevant parliamentary sectoral committee. Essentially, it proposes that when a recommendation for an appointment as the chief executive of this new body comes, it is approved both by the Minister and the relevant Oireachtas sectoral committee, in this case, the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The amendment seeks to provide that parliamentary oversight for an important role. I hope the Minister accepts it. As I said, this is something that is not done in Ireland, but my experience at a European level is that, in many countries, it is not unusual for appointments of this nature to require parliamentary approval by a sectoral committee.

Amendment No. 29 seeks to simply insert the following: "Prior to an appointment under section 33(1), a proposed candidate for Chief Executive shall attend the relevant Oireachtas Sectoral Committee to discuss his or her strategic priorities for the role.” This is a second gasp, if the first amendment requiring the relevant Oireachtas committee to give approval for the appointment is not accepted by the Minister, that, at a minimum, requires the proposed candidate to attend the Oireachtas committee to discuss his or her strategic policies and presumably take questions from members.