Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

It is said there are the appointed and the elected and the only people whom the public get a chance to punish are the elected. This is something we all know because we confront it every time we go before the people.

I commend Deputy Varadkar on bringing this Bill before the House. The former Taoiseach defended appointments he made by saying the appointees were not people who gave his party money but were friends of his. It says much that this was regarded as the lesser of two evils. The first requirement of any appointee is that he or she is qualified and able to do the job, whatever it is.

When the history is written of how successful Fianna Fáil has been in staying in power it will consider how the party manipulated the appointments of people to state boards. There was a continuous stream of appointments. There are approximately 7,000 Government appointed members of state boards earning between €9,000 and €19,000. If they were all doing their jobs and were seen to be qualified for those jobs that would not be an issue. The big issue is that these appointments are being used to control a networking system right down to ground. A follow-on from this has been the way partnership has been manipulated. It was set up in the late 1980s as part of the road map for recovery. Unfortunately, it became the road map for survival for the Government parties.

The days of jobs for the boys and girls, especially if they have given money to the main political party, must end. We have a political establishment which is probably at an all-time low in the opinion of the public. We cannot allow this carry-on to continue. It does not help the work of public representatives or of state boards to read of what has happened in agencies such as FÁS and the Office of the Financial Regulator. Even the Health Service Executive now wishes to centralise everything. Medical cards are now administered centrally in Finglas while the former Minister for Finance decided that everything should be decentralised.

There is a contradiction in the way in which we have tried to run our administration. In particular, front line services have been removed from the people. I am unsure about by whom the public accountability agenda has been written, but that accountability has been removed from front line services. This has been evident in the health services, where there has been a deterioration in how they are being run and in the ability to put vital local services on the ground.

Deputy Varadkar's proposal is similar to that of the Green Party except that it puts the onus of approving appointments on the relevant Oireachtas committee, not an all-party committee. It is not a major change, but I hear that the Green Party will state that we are not going far enough. No one else seems to be going anywhere with it currently. By its name, this Bill makes the point that we are trying to ensure that every appointment stands up to scrutiny. There can be no hiding ground for the cronies of whoever of us is in power. It is not too much to ask that they have the relevant aptitude for the job.

I do not know what excuse will be tabled to amend the Bill and weasel out of it. I do not see where is the wriggle room. Last week, the home defence Bill was knocked on its head and had holes picked in it. It could have been amended, as there were no serious problems. Unfortunately, last night saw the high-profile and tragic death of a burglary victim. Perhaps high profile cases are necessary.

The Government is sending the wrong signals. It must listen to what is being said. Fine Gael's proposal is a commonsensical Bill intended to restore confidence in the system. This is all that we are asking. Fault cannot be found with anything in the Bill, but I would be interested in seeing how the Government will amend it.

I ask that the Government accept the Bill, which was tabled in good faith. Time and again, the Opposition is told to be more productive and progressive. When we try to do that, it is like hitting a brick wall. I commend the Bill to the House and I ask the Government to take our efforts to try to table sensible legislation in the House seriously.

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