Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not explain why these provisions were considered necessary at one point but are now required to be deleted. Safeguards such as these are very important in respect of very senior public positions. It would be completely acceptable to impose some type of time limit, for example, in respect of persons who have been adjudicated bankrupt at some point in the past. My reading of the proposal, however, is that it could lead to a scenario in which a director of the HSE who was adjudicated to be bankrupt could continue in the job. That seems wholly unacceptable given the types of pressure to which a person in that situation would be subject. There is an undesirability in the prospect of such an individual being responsible for a very significant budget. The Minister has not referred to the potential dangers of such a scenario. I am concerned about the basis for his decision to delete this section, given that it was deemed necessary in the first instance.

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