Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As things currently stand, Ministers are limited in their ability to hold Secretaries General to account. The Civil Service Regulation Amendment Act 2005 expanded the remit of the disciplinary process, bringing secretaries general somewhat under the umbrella of the process. However, the extent to which they are under the remit is limited because the legislation sets the Government rather than the Minister as the appropriate authority and provides an exemption for government appointed Civil Servants from certain disciplinary steps. This has the result of confusing the chain of command and means that the senior civil servants are not in any practical sense under the same rules as the vast majority of civil servants. This loophole could easily be closed. The Minister could make the appropriate authority for disciplinary measure against senior civil servants. We need to clarify and simplify the chain of command and bring Secretaries General and other senior civil servants fully under all disciplinary measures of the Civil Service.

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