Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

With regard to the key provisions of Deputy Varadkar's Bill, placing in the public domain names of ministerial nominees to statutory agencies would not be a problem because they are public anyway. I have experience of appointing people to boards over the past 28 years and in considering the plethora appointed, particularly to senior positions, it is clear they are highly-qualified people. In many cases they were not members of my party or Fine Gael when it was in Government. People with necessary qualifications got the important job of chairman or chief executive.

The Bill takes no account of the substantial differences between the processes of appointment of the chairman and CEO. Under legislation the appointment of the chairman is the prerogative of the Minister of the day and it is the responsibility of the Government to appoint a chairman. The appointment of the CEOs and senior executives is a specialised task usually reserved for the board and undertaken in conformity with corporate best practice. As we all know this is done via open competition in most cases or through the use of professional recruitment agencies or the Public Appointments Service. As the Minister of State mentioned, recent appointments such as the director general of FÁS, the CEO of the Dublin Transport Authority and the director of the Environmental Protection Agency were carried out according to those rules and regulations.

Bearing in mind the distribution of the powers and responsibilities under the Irish Constitution, it does not appear appropriate that functions such as those described which are appropriate to the Executive should be assumed by the Legislature. There may also be significant impacts on the conduct of Oireachtas business arising from the Dáil taking on these functions in addition to its other legislative and parliamentary scrutiny obligations. There is no doubt that there would be plenty of discussions on political appointments and so on if that system was in operation.

The model in the United States, where nominees for appointments to senior positions in agencies are confirmed after hearings at the relevant committee in Congress, has been cited as a model to follow. From the experience in the US, many desirable candidates are reluctant to subject themselves to the scrutiny of a parliamentary committee and the uncertainty of a protracted public confirmation process.

The changes recently introduced by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to the system of appointments to certain bodies under the auspices of his Department already represent a middle way between the traditional methods of filling positions on the boards of State agencies and demand for greater transparency and an increased role for the legislature in such appointments. The Minister for Transport also advertised generally for expressions of interest from suitable candidates when filling vacancies on the board of the Dublin Transport Authority earlier this year.

The review by the OECD of the Irish public service published in 2008 recommended, inter alia, strengthening of the governance framework between Ministers and State bodies. A task force established by the Taoiseach on foot of the review set out a three-year framework which the Government has adopted for transformation of the public service. The Department of Finance will lead the development of models of performance in governance frameworks, covering the issues raised by the OECD, including the role and function of the boards of State bodies. It is premature to make further changes to the system of appointment of the chairpersons and CEOs of statutory agencies in advance of and without reference to this work.

See this speech in context