Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

"2.—The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following for section 35:

"35.—(1) The Membership of the Authority shall consist of—

(a) a Chairperson and such number of other whole-time members, not being less than 2 or more than 4, as the Minister determines and appoints (but that limitation does not affect an appointment under paragraph (b)),

(b) in any case where it appears to the Minister that a member referred to in paragraph (a) is temporarily unable to discharge his or her duties, a whole-time member appointed by the Minister, for all or part of that period of inability, to act in that member's place,

(c) an appointment made pursuant to paragraph (b) shall not exceed 6 months and the Minister shall cause the vacancy which arises under paragraph (b) to be advertised and appointed in accordance with subsection (2),

(d) such other number of part-time members as the Minister may determine and appoint in accordance with subsections (2) and (9).

(2) The members of the Authority shall be appointed in the following manner:

(a) Where a vacancy arises in the membership of the Authority, the Minister shall submit the names of 7 people to the Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment (which shall be referred to in this section as "the Committee").

(b) The Minister shall not submit the name of any person who, in the opinion of the Minister, does not possess sufficient expertise in one or more of the following areas, namely competition law or policy, consumer law or policy or utility regulation.

(c) A person to whom paragraph (a) applies shall, on the request of the Committee, give evidence to that Committee on—

(i) his or her suitability for appointment to the position of member of the Competition Authority,

(ii) his or her qualifications for appointment to the position of member of the Competition Authority,

(iii) such other matters pertaining only to the appointment of a member of the Competition Authority.

(d) The Committee shall be required to confirm or decline the nomination of a person under paragraph (a) to the Minister within 7 days of the evidence under paragraph (c) having been completed.

(e) Where the Committee confirms the nomination of a person under paragraph (d) the Minister shall order their appointment by resolution of Dáil Éireann.

(f) Where the Committee declines the nomination of a person under paragraph (d), it shall be required to state to the Minister the reasons for its decision in subsequent private session of the Committee, where requested by the Minister.

(g) Where the Committee declines the nomination of a person under paragraph (d), the Minister shall nominate two persons, who have not already been nominated under this section, for consideration in respect of each outstanding vacancy.

(h) Where the Committee declines the nomination of a person under paragraph (d), and the Minister makes a submission under paragraph (g), the Committee may invoke its powers under paragraph (c) in respect of the alternative nominees.

(i) Where the Committee declines the nomination of a person under paragraph (d), and the Minister makes a submission under paragraph (g), the Committee shall be required to make a recommendation from the alternative candidates submitted under paragraph (g) to fill the remaining vacancies on the Competition Authority.

(j) The Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment shall, with the approval of that Committee, nominate one of the appointed members as Chairperson of the Competition Authority.

(3) Notwithstanding any other act or provision, a person who is a civil servant is not eligible for any appointment to the Authority.

(4) If a person, who is at the time of their appointment to any vacancy to which this section applies a member of staff of the Authority, they shall immediately resign their position as a member of staff of the Authority on appointment under this section.

(5) The term of office of a member of the Authority shall be a period of five years.

(6) An outgoing member of the Authority shall be eligible for reappointment, but shall not be reappointed more than once in any circumstances.

(7) Each member of the Authority shall hold office on such conditions as may be fixed by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance. The Minister shall notify the Committee of such conditions in advance of the appointment being made under subsection (2).

(8) Each member of the Authority may be paid such remuneration, if any, as the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines. The Minister shall notify the Committee of such remuneration in advance of the appointment being made under subsection (2).

(9) Sections 15 and 17 of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956, shall apply, with any necessary modifications, in relation to appointments of members of the Authority as they apply in relation to appointments to positions in the civil service and, accordingly, the Minister shall not appoint a person to be such a member unless the Civil Service Commissioners, after holding a competition under that section 15, have, under that section 17, selected the person for appointment and advised the Minister accordingly.

(10) Subject to subsection (9), the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956, and the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, shall not apply to the office of a member.

(11) If a member of the Authority is personally interested in a particular matter with which the Authority is dealing, he or she shall inform the Minister accordingly and shall not act as a member during the consideration of the matter.

(12) (a) The Minister may remove from office a member of the Authority who has become incapable through ill-health of performing efficiently his or her duties as such member or whose removal appears to the Minister to be necessary in the interests of the effective and economical performance of the functions of the Authority.

(b) The Minister may not exercise his power under paragraph (a) unless he or she has received approval for such action from the Committee.

(c) Where the Minister removes a member of the Authority from office, he or she shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement in writing of the reasons for such removal.

(13) A member of the Authority may resign his or her office.".".

This amendment, which was discussed on Committee Stage, relates to the proper Oireachtas scrutiny of appointments to the Competition Authority. The Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, may be aware that this Bill is necessary to fill some vacancies that have arisen on the Competition Authority. These are ordinarily filled through competition but, for various reasons, it is not possible to fill them in the ordinary way on this occasion. The appointments will be made by the Minister. It is very much a retrograde step that we are going back to direct ministerial appointments rather than a competition. My party believes that the appointments which are made by the Minister should initially be scrutinised by an Oireachtas committee.

If the committee does not accept any of the nominations for a legitimate reason, the Minister can then make two alternatives and the committee can choose from the two.

We have seen some progress in this regard. The positions on the FÁS board were advertised while there was some committee scrutiny of appointments to the board of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. This is the first example, however, of the Government going backwards, moving away from a competition to ministerial appointment and not allowing any scrutiny of it.

See this speech in context