Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There are many more people I do not know personally than people I do know whom I have appointed to boards. One needs a good balance of representatives on boards, which involves not only technical knowledge of the area but also people who are involved in public administration, have a commitment to public service and who should agree to serve out of a sense of public duty rather than any monetary considerations. From my point of view, all the appointments I have ever made to boards, in whatever capacity I have served, have been on the basis of those who were available and those I considered were best suited in respect of the skills mix that was represented on an existing board at the time. There are also issues in regard to representation of women on State boards; the gender issue must also be respected. Many appointments are made on the basis of nomination, by relevant groups, such as the social partners. Various instances and circumstances apply in different situations, depending on the vacancy and the circumstances in which it was created.

I agree it is important we get people of good calibre to serve on our State boards. They are important. Many of them operate important functions and, in some cases, they are big commercial enterprises. It is important we get such people to serve on them. If we were to do what is suggested, it would involve some indication of how — in anticipation of vacancies arising or in the event of new boards being due to be appointed — it might be open to relevant committees of the House to bring in existing members or chief executives of boards and ask them what is considered to be the type of people or what areas of expertise the board would benefit from in the context of emerging vacancies.

In regard to the idea of having to have parliamentary scrutiny before appointment to boards, we would want to be careful we do not compromise the independence of them in the exercise of their function once appointed. Sometimes, with respect, there can be a partisan debate around those issues which is never helpful. It provides some populace grandstanding for some. That can happen on any side of the House by any committee member. It is important we find a balance between trying to ensure we get the best possible calibre of people available and at the same time do not subject them to a level of political scrutiny, in some senses, that might undermine their ability to carry out their tasks subsequently because of some perhaps unjustified criticism that cannot be withdrawn before the appointment is made.

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