Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My whole difficulty with this relates to "assigned staff". Where are those staff going to come from? It is somewhat similar to what Deputy Sherlock spoke about earlier. I mean no disrespect to them but there may be existing staff in another role in the Civil Service who will be moved over to this. If we want them to be fully independent the chief deciding officer should be able to advertise for staff and decide what type of staff is needed for that role.

It should be solely with that office. It should not be assigned staff from the Department. That is the Department's way of being in and out at the same time. Deputy Connolly made several references to Caranua and every time she said it I could not believe I had forgotten to speak about it. People's experience with that institution was just horrific. The stories we could tell about people's interactions. There is a fear that this is going to be similar. This would be better for everybody. It would be better for both the Minister and the Department if this office was totally independent and they had no role whatsoever in assigning staff. It should be the chief deciding officer. That is going to end up being a very frustrating role if that person is asked to do something and then their hands are tied. We need that to be totally independent.

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