Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To take up the point made by Deputy Donnelly, this is complex legislation which contains many new mechanisms. It is very important that we communicate to the general public how it is intended to work. The insolvency agency will have a particular function in that regard. If we achieve our objective of enacting the legislation before Christmas, an information process for the benefit of the public will start very early in the new year by way of a website and other mechanisms. After the enactment of the legislation there will be a phase of trying to assist the public to understand what the legislation is about in non-technical terms. We must be careful in doing that to ensure that nobody is misled about any aspect of it. I will rely on the insolvency service to perform that function. It has a particular function in that regard.

On Deputy Collins's query, there is no board for the insolvency service. The chief executive officer who has been appointed came through the public appointments system. There will be advertisements for the recruitment of the rest of the staff on Friday this week. In addition, there is an internal recruitment process where we can identify within my Department, for example, individuals who have the skill sets that would be of assistance to work in the agency. That will happen in addition to the outside recruitment that might be necessary. We have identified professionals who will need to be recruited from outside the public service and that advertisement will take place. It will be dealt with through the Public Appointments Service.

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