Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is, of course, misrepresenting my view. I have stated many times that it is no longer easy to get people to serve on State boards, given the commitment required of them, much of the time free gratis and often for very small amounts. Appointments are based on a person's experience, expertise, willingness to serve and commitment to the organisation in which they are involved. Most appointments to organisations that come within the remit of my Department are nominees from the social partners. Appointments to organisations such as the National Statistics Board and the Law Reform Commission are limited to people with particular expertise in these areas.

There are no proposals or procedures in place to establish an independent system to examine or scrutinise appointments. Ministers and Departments try, to the best of their ability, to select the right people for positions. As I stated many times, people are no longer queueing up, as they did in the past, to participate on State boards. The current situation is different, given the legal position, governance arrangements and the commitment required. A limited number of people have the time or the commitment to get involved. That is a fact of life. We continue to manage to obtain suitable people but doing so is not near as easy as it was ten or 20 years ago.

See this speech in context