Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It looks as though we do not have a deal. There is no point in dragging this out unnecessarily. I have not heard an explanation of why the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, suggested earlier that the situation was other than what subsection 3 seeks to lock us into, namely, restriction to those in the service and those at particular grade levels. What she put on record in regard to other public service employees is in the past tense and will not be the case once the Bill is enacted. Her contribution was unhelpful and I am concerned at what it intended to do. Whether it was to confuse or to distract I do not know, but I am not happy with it.

Amendment No. 4 is very reasonable and does not take from the legislation. Many people have director roles in different aspects of our public service and the different agencies of Government and they were appointed from outside the structures of the entity. There are examples aplenty I could cite that are not akin to boards, as the Minister suggests. The directorate the Minister seeks to put in place will not be weakened by opening it up to the best possible expertise and the greatest energy and enthusiasm, which is necessary. This is particularly true in driving forward reforms in the area of mental health and driving forward the implementation of A Vision for Change, which I acknowledge we are all committed to.

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