Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 35, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:"(2) The Minister will be obliged to have regard for experience and qualification when appointing authorised officers.".

The appointment of authorised officers is a step forward that we welcome, as would many involved in animal welfare. The Government, however, has to ensure that the people appointed have the relevant expertise to carry out proper animal protection. What safeguards exist to ensure that happens? What standards will the Minister set for these officers? It is a new area in Irish legislation. Where will the officers come from? That is a particularly pertinent question against the backdrop of austerity measures, the public sector recruitment embargo and the fact that there is no other public sector recruitment. If new people will not be appointed to fill the new positions then existing employees, maybe in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or other Departments, will be the ones called to be authorised officers, and we have to ask what their expertise is and how it will be safeguarded. How will the Minister's Department monitor and evaluate achievement of those targets and so on?

We think it necessary to include in the Act the caveat that there must be due regard to experience and qualifications, because otherwise anybody could be an authorised officer for the purpose of the Act. What safeguards are there, apart from leaving it to the Department to work out the guidelines of the process, to which we would not be privy? It would be better if there were an independent body. In the absence of that, we need a bit more.

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