Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try to complete my contribution before the adjournment.

This is relatively uncontentious legislation. I join the previous speakers in paying tribute to the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Sometimes I wonder how they can bear to sit in the Chamber and listen to the utterances of many Members of the House.

I know we are all familiar with the left and right hand side of the brain, but here obviously the left ear takes in all the things being proposed and the right ear takes in all the reasons it should not happen. I often wonder if we should switch the position of the Cathaoirleach over to this side of the House so that he or she can get both sides of the brain working. I commend them on sitting there. Sometimes I find it very difficult to listen here to some of the speeches on some aspects of legislation. On the side I am on now it is in the negative and on the far side it is the positive. When the roles are reversed the same thing happens.

This brings me to the issue of appointments in general. Notwithstanding that Fianna Fáil has been in power for the greater part of the State's history, no political party has been immune from interfering with political appointments, cronyism or whatever. It is important to have mechanisms to allow people to see that appointments are open and fair. A number of years ago in a previous appointment I had, I was sitting on an interview board for the position of general operative in the Department of Defence. There were more than 20 applicants, every one of whom was suitable for the job. However, in order to ensure we got the two people we were recommending we had to identify approximately 20 as unsuitable and only two as suitable because historically, we had learned that if we identified them all as suitable, the Minister of the day would end up picking the individuals, which was okay for the people who were selected, but very unfair for people who might have been more suitable for the job.

We have evolved and developed. However, it is important to have accountability at every level of Government. While we have the Top Level Appointments Committee, I am concerned we do not have the transparency we should have, with regard to top-level appointments or any appointments. I am a great believer in ministerial accountability. The public must have transparency and be able to point the finger at someone. We can appoint people to all the bodies, including bodies such as the NRA and Fáilte Ireland, and take control away from this House. By taking control away from the House we are taking away answerability to the public.

We have seen a classic example in recent days. There is great disquiet among the public and indeed in Government over what is happening with the sale of the Alfred Beit Foundation assets. We cannot get the full details. There is an onus on the Government to protect our culture and heritage, yet we have no accountability over the sale of a gift that was left to the State. It is important to ensure we always have accountability.

I agree with the Top Level Appointments Committee being involved here, but I am not sure we need a Secretary General of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I believe the two-pronged approach of an administrative CEO to oversee the administration of it and an operational Clerk of the Dáil to look after that side would have been satisfactory. It is also important that they can work in conjunction with the Ceann Comhairle. While this is no reflection on the current Ceann Comhairle, I believe the Ceann Comhairle should be elected by secret ballot.

There is a separate issue that I had not intended raising on the floor of the House relating to role of the commission in the administration of the Houses. When I was a member of a political party I did not pay much attention to this because I was looked after, so to speak. The Minister previously dealt with legislation on the allocation of funding for people who had resigned the party Whip which remains with Government parties which I believe is inherently unfair. The Minister did not accept an amendment for whatever reason.

However, there is a matter that I find disturbing. I have raised it privately and it was not my intention to raise it on the floor of the House. I refer to the administration of office accommodation in the Houses, which comes under the control of the Government Chief Whip. I will table a Report Stage amendment given that I cannot do it on Committee Stage because I do not have any representative to table it for me unless the Committee Stage is held here on the floor of the Dáil. I will propose that the control of office accommodation should go to the Ceann Comhairle. It is not my desire to demonstrate how people in this House - some of whom are former members of the Minister's party - have been treated unfairly.

The first half of this year was dominated by two political issues - water charges and equality. I am a strong advocate for and supporter of equality. Within this House, some Members are being actively discriminated against by the Government. It is a small issue and not one about which the public would be concerned. I will be tabling an amendment so that the control of office accommodation in the Houses should lie with the Ceann Comhairle. When I move and speak in support of that amendment if the Minister wants me to demonstrate how I believe we have been treated unfairly, I will be happy to do so but I do not have a desire to do it. I can send on the information privately.

I pay tribute to Mr. Kieran Coughlan, the former Clerk, and to all the staff. Notwithstanding all the talk about openness and transparency in these various bodies, appointments commissions for senior civil servants and whatever, in the final analysis we must have ministerial accountability. Everything needs to be open to the public through raising the issue with the Minister on the floor of the Dáil. I ask the Minister to look at the issue. I would rather not have to table an amendment to give control of office accommodation to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. I would prefer the Minister to do it or look after it. However, if he does not, we will table an amendment.

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