Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

Deputy English hit the nail on the head in respect of this matter. Members of the public feel angry, hurt, helpless and, most of all, completely and utterly frustrated. If we do not get our act together and respond, we will all - particularly those in government - receive our answer when the next general election is held.

Cronyism has completely discredited politics and all politicians. It is time we dealt with it head on. People are fed up with the nod-and-wink culture that has developed, like a cancer, in Irish society and public life, particularly during the past 12 years. Certain individuals have wielded enormous influence and acted with absolute impunity. The obvious example in this regard relates to FÁS. However, there are many other State and semi-State bodies which have acted in a similar fashion. The individuals involved in the cases to which I refer were appointed to multiple State boards. Some of them were continually reappointed to their positions on virtually every State board going during the past 20 or 30 years.

An incentive has developed for politicians on the Government benches to create more of these bodies. I do not merely refer to semi-State organisations in this regard. Rather, I refer to county enterprise boards and similar ancillary bodies which should be part of county councils. Deputy Hogan introduced proposals to deal with the position in this regard.

As already stated, there is an incentive to encourage the proliferation of these organisations in order that those in government might provide their friends and cronies with jobs and thereby keep them happy and ensure they remain on board. This is simply not satisfactory. The people have had enough and so have Members on this side of the House. If the Minister of State opposite, Deputy Barry Andrews, and his colleagues do not deal with this matter, then the public will deal with them. It is as simple as that.

Since 1997, 207 new State bodies and some 600 new bodies in total have been established. The Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, has made numerous calls to the effect that this matter should be dealt with and during the past two years Deputy Varadkar and many others in the House have highlighted the need for action. However, nothing of substance has happened.

The Bill seeks to put forward and develop a new way of doing things. At the core of this new way is something simple, straightforward and easy to implement, namely, that public appointments should be made in public. The Bill suggests that when the Government appoints someone to a State board, this should be done in public and on an accountable basis. It also suggests that in respect of the most important appointments, the relevant committee should have the power to accept or reject a nomination.

One does not need to look to the United States for an example in this regard. One need go no further than the European Commission. As Deputy English stated, we are not interested in character assassination or in what people had for breakfast. However, we want to know about their qualifications, character and suitability to hold some of the most important positions in the country. We deserve to be provided with information relating to nominees' qualifications and these should be laid before the relevant Oireachtas committee. There should be nothing surprising about that.

Some of the excuses and blather offered by the Government in respect of this matter are, quite simply, ridiculous. It was stated that the committees are overloaded with work. They are overloaded in the context of being obliged to listen to Ministers read scripts that have been prepared by civil servants. As Deputy English asked, what are Members doing here? We are here to serve the people and to make politics relevant and accountable to them. Citizens are fed up with the creeping cronyism that has destroyed public life and destroyed people's confidence in the political system. We all suffer as a result of this. What is happening is simply unacceptable.

The real problem arises in the context of the arrogance that exists at the highest level in government, where people feel they can act with impunity and do not have to account to anyone. These individuals are of the view that they can make appointments and account for them at a later date. This is ridiculous and unsustainable and the public will not stand for it. What is the Government afraid of?

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