Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 18, to delete lines 16 and 17 and substitute the following: “21. (1) The Minister may, following consultation with the chief executive, appoint such and so many officers of the Minister as the Minister may determine to be members of staff of the Agency.”.

It is great to engage on this again with the Minister. We had a discussion on this on Committee Stage when myself and Deputy Pa Daly had tabled similar amendments. The key to this is the insertion of the words "following consultation with the chief executive". We feel that the chief executive of this agency should have a consultative rolevis-à-visthe Minister in terms of appointing any new officers. The explanation given by the Minister is that this should be understood and that there are other written understandings around this but we feel that it should be made explicit in the legislation itself.

This does not just come from myself or Deputy Daly; it comes from those working in the sector who have been dealing with this issue for a prolonged period of time. When they engaged with members of the Opposition, they encouraged us to table amendments and this comes from a level of experience in dealing with the Department of Justice and with various Ministers. While they are very appreciative of the measures the Minister is introducing, they feel that this is an appropriate measure to insert. It would specify, within legislation, that consultation with the chief executive would be required.

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