Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. That was the answer I expected. I do not buy this rubbish to the effect that this was done before the Minister started. Actually, it was done in April and the Minister took up office in May. I would have expected that someone who chased these issues from the seats above not so long ago would have stopped this process and ensured that the PAS was used.

I have several questions for the Minister. Was it a good use of taxpayer money to waste €58,000, seeing as the authority could have used PAS? Does the Minister expect all the agencies under his Department to use PAS in future? Will the Minister oblige those agencies to save taxpayer money by using PAS? Will Fáilte Ireland be using PAS in future? Under the process signed off by the Department, why did the Minister not have confidence in anyone from his Department, for example, the Secretary General or the relevant assistant secretary, both of whom I know and support? Did the Minister not have sufficient confidence in these people to allow them to sit on the interview panel?

See this speech in context