Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I appeal to Deputies to examine the precise terms of section 9 which provides that the council will comprise a chairperson and ordinary members appointed by the Minister. The concept of appointment by the Minister which the amendments tabled by Deputies Ó Caoláin and McManus seek to change is highly qualified by the subsequent provisions of the section. For example, subsection (3) provides that in the case of the council one person is to be appointed for each designated profession and he or she must be "an elected member of the registration board of the designated profession" and be "nominated by that board for appointment to the Council". The Minister cannot direct the registration boards to appoint a particular person or prescribe gender quotas for them, as the Deputies opposite have urged. This would be a far-reaching intervention by the Minister into the proceedings of a board which will enjoy some measure of autonomy as well as statutory guidance under this legislation.

It is true, however, that a further 12 persons must be appointed by the Minister under subsection (3)(b). Again, however, great care is taken in the legislation to designate exactly the qualification of the persons in question. Deputy Ó Caoláin referred to jobs for the boys and argued that every citizen should have the right to be considered for such appointment. Under the legislation, it is the right of every qualified citizen to be considered for appointment to the council.

The council contains the representatives of the boards as well as the other appointees of the Minister appointed under exact statutory standards. Section 28 includes basic provisions on the registration boards which will perform a fundamental role with regard to each profession. The section also provides that the Minister shall appoint members to the boards. Deputy McManus has been consistent and tabled an amendment seeking to amend the provisions on membership of the registration boards, whereas Deputy Ó Caoláin has not tabled such an amendment. Deputy McManus, in the spirit of amendments Nos. 5 and 6, is procedurally correct to table an amendment to section 28. Her amendment proposes to prescribe a female quota of 40% for ministerial appointees. However, as an examination of the section reveals, the Minister's discretion is quickly exhausted by the detailed provisions regarding the appointment. Six persons are appointed by the Minister on their election by the registrants of the professions. For the House to amend the section in the manner proposed by Deputy McManus would empower the Minister to direct voters, described in the legislation as registrants or members of the profession, to elect a 40% female quota, irrespective of their preferences. Deputies on the other side are advancing a far-reaching proposition, as is their right, but this Bill is not the context in which this question should be raised. If an example is to be given in a matter of this nature, it must be done through the Constitution.

With regard to the board, although seven particular appointments are left to the Minister, again these are carefully designated. Four of them are to be representative of the public interest, while the other three are to be representative of particular disciplines and possess particular expertise. Again, there is no question that these provisions amount to some kind of charter for discretionary ministerial appointments and, in fact, the legislation is carefully circumscribed. It should be noted that many of the professions to be regulated under the Bill are predominately female. It could be argued, therefore, that the composition of the council and registration boards must reflect to some extent the gender composition of the professions represented. An issue may arise regarding male representation in the context of several of the registration boards.

I assure the House that in the general making of appointments to bodies the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children will have close cognisance of Government policy in regard to the need for gender balance. On the issue of appointing persons to the council it should be noted that 12 members of the council will be elected representatives of the respective registration boards who have been nominated by the board for appointment. The Minister's power of appointment is, therefore, purely a formality in this context and cannot be burdened with a statutory duty to insist upon a particular gender qualification.

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