Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Tá áthas orm deis a fháil labhairt an an mBille um Cheapacháin chuig Comhlachtaí Poiblí 2007. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le mo chomhghleacaithe an Teachta Boyle, a dhein an-chuid oibre chun an Bille a ullmhú. Ba mhaith liom aitheantas a thabhairt do na heagraíochtaí eile atá ag lorg athbhreithniú le fada an lá chun feabhas a chur ar an gcóras ceapacháin chuig comhlachtaí poiblí. Caithfidh mé eagraíochtaí ar nós TASC, an Democracy Commission agus Transparency International, atá ag impí ar an Rialtas le tamall fada athbhreithniú agus athstruchtúrú a dhéanamh ar an gcóras — nó easpa chórais, go minic — atá ann faoi láthair, a luadh sa chomhthéacs seo.

It is ironic that the Taoiseach will launch another report on active citizenship tomorrow. I have asked him many times in the House about the manner in which people are appointed to State boards, task forces, agencies and the plethora of organisations established by the Government parties over the past ten years. The Taoiseach does not realise that improvement is possible in this regard and he has a defeatist and almost depressing belief that nobody would like to be appointed to these bodies anyway and, therefore, he must rely on his little black book or other contacts he has to seek somebody who will selflessly take on these positions.

That argument is a sham and it is unacceptable to many people. It would also be unacceptable to the Irish Human Rights Commission. Its original membership comprised political appointees but, under the chairmanship of Maurice Manning, the commission decided, wisely and responsibly, at the end of its term to place an advertisement in the press seeking expressions of interest. This was followed by fundamental reform of the way in which appointments to the body are made. That is from where the Green Party is coming. Change is needed urgently in the appointments process so public confidence in the political process can be restored and a level of accountability brought to bear on organisations working on behalf of the people, which in many cases have large budgets comprising taxpayers' money.

The Government parties have made more than 6,000 appointments to various bodies over the past ten years. The manner in which such appointments are made should be examined to improve the way in which they are assessed. Currently, there is a lack of assessment and it is difficult to know the criteria for membership sometimes, although it is obvious in other cases given the background of the person and the skills they bring to the position. We do not seek to reinvent the wheel but in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and other jurisdictions, the process involved in such appointments has been examined and improvements made. New Zealand officials examined the plethora of task forces that had been appointed to bring about what they call "deagencification". That is the first time this word has been used in the House and New Zealanders are ahead of us in this regard. They are rationalising the number of task forces.

See this speech in context