Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 3, line 18, to delete "appoint" and substitute "nominate".

The purpose of this amendment is to have the Minister nominate rather than appoint directors to the authority. This is appropriate as it facilitates the Minister's say in making an appointment and the nomination can then be interviewed by the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This would not be an interrogation or inquisition but a reasonable question and answer session between the elected representatives of the people and the interviewee. It is worth reiterating that there would be no need to infringe on any personal matters relating to the appointee. It would deal strictly with the competency, or otherwise, of the interviewee to carry out his or her functions in the authority.

This process for the Competition Authority would be a road-test for other public appointments. It is important to remember these appointments would be public interest directors, for want of a better term. The term arose from the Minister for Finance's appointments to the various banks' boards to supposedly represent public interest. Some questions arise as to whether this was effective. At least one of those directors in the case of Anglo Irish Bank signed off on the bank's 2008 accounts in February 2009 which showed a profit of €784 million when months later it was revealed it had lost €12.7 billion.

We need to ensure errors such as this do not happen again. Qualified and all as these appointees may be, there must be a question and answer session which will allow the Oireachtas Members, the representatives of the people of this State, to establish whether they have some level of competency and are willing to exercise it.

This would be an imminently fair and reasonable process, not an interrogation. The Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment would be suitable for such a process because under the stewardship of Deputy Willie Penrose and its broad membership it tends to be the least party political of the committees. The committee is very reasonable when it arrives at conclusions and, I believe, at all times it puts the greater good to the fore. On that basis, I call on the Minister of State to take this on board and disregard the notes she was given, which were clearly signed off by the senior Minister in the Department, and opt for the greater good in this instance and accept the amendments.

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