Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is an amendment we discussed on Committee Stage and which I indicated I was not in favour of. As with many other organisations, their representatives often attend Oireachtas committees but the chairperson would do so, not the CEO before their appointment. It is the board of the food regulator that has responsibility for the strategic direction of the office, not the CEO, so it would not be appropriate for the CEO, in advance of his or her appointment as part of their recruitment process, for example, to attend an Oireachtas committee. It would be appropriate for the board and the chair to do so and that is what happens in so many other instances. I am not aware of any case whereby a CEO of an organisation, before their appointment and as part of their recruitment process, would attend an Oireachtas committee. That would not be good practice and nor would it be a good precedent to set in this instance. The regulator will be called upon to attend Oireachtas committees, and the legislation provides for the regulator's board and chairperson to attend before the committee, but not the CEO. That is why this amendment is not appropriate and why I am not in favour of it.

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