Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Amendment No. 5a is a direct result of the report of Mr. Quigley on the appointment of a PR person in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Having exposed a number of features of the appointments system as unsatisfactory, the report of the former Revenue Commissioner set out a number of recommendations on how to deal with circumstances where a person is brought in on contract to carry out certain work and single-tendering is used on grounds of urgency. The report identified the need for process auditors to oversee such appointments and contained direct comments on possible risks where a Minister suggests a particular person for a contract. While a great many issues arose at the time which caused considerable public concern, I have seen no initiative or legislative change to address them. While we are told by the Taoiseach that many changes have occurred, my amendment seeks to copperfasten some of the lessons which were learned from the experience outlined in the Quigley report.

Amendment 5a provides that the Minister should, by regulation, outline procedures to be applied where a person is engaged on contract for a specified period or for the duration of a specified project. The procedures should provide for the documenting of the criteria for deciding whether to engage a person as a civil servant or consultant or otherwise, the tender procedure chosen for selection, the reason for the choice and the method of oversight of the selection procedure and subsequent recording of work carried out under the contract and its quality. Apart from generating political debate on the original appointment, of which there was a great deal, the decision exposed a flaw in the system. The House must be assured the flaws have been corrected. If they are not to be corrected in legislation — I have seen no evidence of suggestions from the Taoiseach or Minister of State in this regard — we must be told what procedures have otherwise been put in place. I hope the Minister of State will accept my amendment as a means of putting this episode behind us and ensuring we have learned its lessons to avoid a repeat scenario.

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