Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 7, to delete lines 3 to 19 and substitute the following:

“ “105A.(1) Where no chairperson stands appointed under section 105 the Government may, subject to subsections (2) and (3), appoint an interim chairperson for a period of not more than 6 months, from persons who—

(a) are, or were formerly, established civil servants for the purposes of the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005, established public servants in State agencies or employees of the Board,

(b) who has been in such a position for no less than 10 years prior to their appointment as interim chairperson, and

(c) who is demonstrably and in the opinion of the Government, a suitably qualified person to perform the role and function.

(2) Notwithstanding the temporary nature of an appointment under subsection (1) the Government shall require that person to perform the function so as to preserve the independence of the Board and independence from Government.

(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (3), a person appointed to be the Interim chairperson under this section shall cease to hold office on the appointment of a chairperson by the Government under section 105.

(4) Subsections (11), (13), (14) and (15) of section 105 shall apply to an interim chairperson appointed under subsection (1).

(5) A person appointed to be the interim chairperson under this section who ceases to hold office in accordance with subsection (1) may be re- appointed by the Government for one term if nominated by the Committee in subsection (2) of section 105, in accordance with section 105.”.”.

I will deal with this briefly because we want to get to other sections of the Bill, including those relating to the foreshore. The only aspect of the An Bord Pleanála amendments where I accept there is urgency relates to the appointment of an interim chair with full board powers. It is possible for the Minister to appoint an ordinary board report member under the existing powers with many but not all of the powers of the chair. It is reasonable for the Minister to introduce an emergency amendment to have an interim chair. My preference would be an interim chair for six months rather than 12 months with the option to renew for another 12 months. I say this without any comment or any disrespect to the individual who has been appointed.

One of the vital functions of the board is its independence from Government. One of the problems in recent years is that that independence had been badly compromised in my view. Therefore, it would have been much better if the appointment of an interim chair was in a different manner and involved somebody not from within or recently departed from the Civil Service. That is not to say that any of those individuals do not have skills, ability or talent. It would have been a much better approach to have absolute separation not only between Government and the board, but also between the Civil Service and the board. I know the Minister will not accept the amendment so I will not waste the Dáil's time. While I agree to an interim chair, albeit for a shorter period, I disagree with the way he has done it. I think it will create problems. I will not come back after the Minister replies and I will not press the amendment to a vote. I want him to be crystal clear as to where our party stands on that issue.

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