Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the Bill, provision is made for the appointments being made to the new competition and consumer protection commission following an open recruitment competition to be run by the Public Appointments Service, PAS. This replicates the system that currently exists for the Competition Authority. The actual mechanics of advertising, interviewing and then taking into account the needs for successful applicants to give some months' notice to their current employers, possibly up to three months, means the entire recruitment and selection process could take a number of months to conclude, during which period the commission would not be allowed to function without the requisite membership if a number of vacancies had arisen. Thus, this Bill repeats at section 12(5) the provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2010, which allow the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to appoint whole-time members for a short period to provide cover up to the point when whole-time members are appointed following the holding of a PAS competition.

In that context, as laid out in section 12(10) and (11), such members may only be appointed for an initial maximum period of six months, with a further period or periods allowed, provided the total period for the temporary member in question does not exceed 12 months. This provision was utilised in 2010 and appointments made for less than the 12 month period.

In section 12(3)(b), the Bill also repeals the provisions of the Competition Act 2002 on the appointment of temporary whole-time members to address a circumstance in which a member is temporarily unable to discharge his or her duties. Such provisions are intended to provide cover for a member or where he or she is unavailable to attend a meeting of the commission on the ground that he or she is out of the country and cannot take his or her place or play his or her part at a meeting, with a knock-on impact on the statutory quorum for the meeting. For this reason, such temporary appointments are for a very short duration and specific to unforeseen circumstances. They have, in the experience of the Competition Authority to date, consisted of members of staff being appointed for limited periods to ensure authority meetings could take place with the required quorum, often at short notice.

In summary, if a longer-term vacancy arises, the provisions under section 12(10) and (11) will operate and if a shorter-term vacancy arises, section 12(3)(b) will operate. In light of this, the proposed amendment is not necessary and I am not in a position to accept it.

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