Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House today, given that, previously, he was never available, and for explaining his position. I have to say it is perplexing. To be frank, pursuant to the relevant Acts of the Oireachtas, I do not believe the Minister is actually doing his job. There are a number of boards which will not be able to function if this vacuum persists. Will the Minister at least guarantee to the House, given he refused to answer the previous question, that all boards have all competencies covered and the Minister has met with all chairs of all the organisations to confirm same? If he has not, then he is in neglect of his duty as a Minister. I know this because I sat there and did a similar job. The Minister has to make sure that all boards have the competencies. According to my sources, some of them do not and others will not have in the coming weeks. That is unacceptable and is negligence on the Minister's part.

The Minister is adopting a specific view in regard to the Public Appointments Service, PAS. I take it he does not have confidence in PAS. I take it he has little confidence in his own officials who make recommendations to him. He says there must be more than a curriculum vitae to decide somebody's competence. He often spoke when he was a journalist, and also last night with Claire Byrne, although it was not live, about cronyism. Cronyism is appointing people who are not competent to do the job. These people come through PAS and its officials. They are obviously competent or they would not have got through that strenuous process, a process that, dare I say it, was not used when it came to filling Ms Hunt's or Tony Williams' position as special adviser to the Minister. Why can there be one rule when it comes to appointing certain people to advise the Minister, and be on the taxpayers' payroll, and another rule when it comes to the fact the Minister will not fill the roles that are necessary across the board to keep the competencies in order to ensure taxpayers are protected and the Minister can have faith and confidence in board members?

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