Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Mar a dúirt an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille. Sinn Féin welcomes the opportunity to speak on this Bill and commends Deputy Boyle and the Green Party for initiating a debate on the issue. The question of who is appointed to State boards and how they are selected is very important for society. The Green Party is right to point out that important decisions affecting the quality of life and services of people are taken by individuals appointed to the boards of these bodies. Past practices have had detrimental consequences for the semi-State sector in particular. The process has been dogged by a lack of accountability coupled with political appointees, cronyism and an under-representation of women.

The question that can be asked tonight is when was the last time people from a marginalised or disadvantaged background, or minorities such as Travellers, were appointed to State boards. This has created a scenario that is rife with bad practice. No party that has served in Government is free from complicity in these practices.

As was emphasised during the debate last night, this has seriously undermined public confidence in public bodies in general. There is still a real, some might say justifiable, perception that public appointments are made on the basis of who knows who and whether a person has connections to whatever parties happen to be in power. In many cases political appointees have little or no interests in promoting a healthy public sector and in some cases they are opposed to its development. They may have very little if any relevant experience. Sinn Féin has long argued for a transparent and accountable appointment process where relevant qualification would be given due consideration. In many cases we have attempted to enshrine this in legislation before the House.

The North has many quangos and political appointees etc., and this will be addressed in the discussions taking place over the next couple of weeks. If we are to speak about a society based on the principles of equality of opportunity, this quangoism and cronyism must be seen as wrong and should not be allowed. Last night, the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, told the House that the Government considers carefully the attributes of the persons selected in the context of the requirements of the post. The practices and procedures adopted by the Government follow those adopted by its predecessors. By telling us the Minister of State follows procedures adopted by his predecessors, he confirms that the process and bad practices of the past persist today. The Minister of State and the Government seem to be in denial and are unaware of or oblivious to the damaging effect of cronyism on State bodies and public confidence. The proposal in the legislation for a special unit to be attached to the Public Appointments Commission is worth consideration. The issue regarding the establishment of a joint Oireachtas committee on appointments to public bodies may be better dealt with by existing committees where members would have a better knowledge of the specific State bodies in question. I would like to hear more discussion on this matter. It is correct that appointments must be made subject to greater scrutiny by the Dáil in particular.

Another serious concern regarding public appointments to State bodies is that many political appointees have a selfish interest in promoting the privatisation of State companies from which they seek to profit. We should remember Aer Lingus and the actions of its management, which wanted to buy the company. What about the ongoing problems at An Post and the role its board has played? Mismanagement at An Post has threatened the future of the post office network and rural post offices in particular.

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