Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share my time with Deputies Mary O'Rourke, Michael Ahern, Seán Ardagh and Mattie McGrath.

While I would like to compliment Deputy Leo Varadkar on his initiative in drafting and tabling a Private Members' Bill, and on the discussion to which it gives rise, I will be opposing it on behalf of the Government. I have listened carefully to the contribution of the Deputy to this important policy debate. We all want to promote the public interest. Our respective views of how best to do this may differ.

There are undoubtedly diverging views on the relationship and role of the executive arm of the State and the Legislature. There are those who take the view that State appointments belong to the powers of the Executive, as the Constitution suggests, and those who believe that the Houses should play a determining part in this. It is not always easy to reconcile these views. It would be interesting to see whether the same position would still be adopted by the Deputy's party were it to find itself on this side of the House.

The Bill before the House proposes that Oireachtas committees scrutinise all ministerial nominees to the positions of chairman and chief executive of statutory agencies and public bodies, as defined, that receive more than €1 million in public funding.

There are a number of concerns regarding the Bill. It involves the Oireachtas taking executive functions onto itself in vetting and confirming appointments to State boards and it cuts across the normal corporate governance arrangements for boards to appoint chief executive officers.

The normal process is for Ministers to propose appointments to the boards of State bodies, which often proceed by way of memorandum to Government and are discussed before decisions are made. Obviously Ministers can be questioned and held responsible to the Houses of the Oireachtas to justify their appointments.

In making board appointments, Ministers seek to ensure the people appointed bring a diverse range of relevant skills and experiences to the body. These decisions are normally approached in a conscientious manner, following consultation, and usually take time. The ministerial freedom to make appointments is not unfettered. Ministers must take account of any specific legislative requirements that exist, such as requirements to appoint worker directors or representatives of nominating bodies, equality legislative provisions, and relevant Government policies, such as the policy on gender balance on State boards. Increasingly, the governing legislation prescribes the desirable attributes for board members.

Many appointees are people not primarily political at all, but who have specific expertise in the field in question. Sometimes figures associated with Opposition parties are appointed, such as a former Fine Gael leader of the Seanad chosen as first head of the Irish Human Rights Commission. We have also recently seen cross-party appointees to banks and financial institutions. We seek and need the brightest and the best on such bodies at this time.

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