Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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It is quite unfortunate the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, is not here to respond to this matter and that the Minister of State had to be pulled back up from Limerick or where ever he was to deal with it. I understand the Minister is heading out of the country.

I must declare I was a former employee of Fáilte Ireland. This matter relates to the process in which the agency is engaging in filling the post of chief executive, an issue of concern to me. Before his appointment as Minister, Deputy Shane Ross would wax lyrical from the opposition benches and in the Sunday Independentabout quangos, State board appointments and other such issues. After six months in office, he has still refused to meet Fáilte Ireland even once. The agency is not engaging in using the Public Appointments Service, PAS, system to fill the chief executive post. Instead, it is using a company called Amrop. Transparency is not there.

Why is the senior Minister not using the PAS system to give transparency to this process? In reply to a parliamentary question on this, the Minister stated Fáilte Ireland was not obliged to do so. If one looks at the PAS website, however, many other State agencies do so. In fact, another agency under the Minister's remit is currently using it to fill vacancies.

One of the biggest marketing jobs in Ireland - and given Brexit - is not filled by the Minister in a way which I would have expected him to do so, given his track record. Does the Minister of State feel this is appropriate? Will the current process using a private company be stalled? Will the position be readvertised? Why has it taken so long? If this is the best process, why has no one been appointed? Is there an issue of which we need to be made aware?

It is incredible the Department was unable, unwilling or did not feel it necessary to have a representative on the interview board for the chief executive of one of the most important agencies under its remit. I know the Secretary General of the Department quite well. He is a capable man who worked with me when I was there. I am sure the assistant secretary, who I do not know, is also competent and capable. If a Department is going to jump outside the PAS system, will the Minister of State agree the Department should have a role in a recruitment process to ensure it is transparent and that the best person, the person with energy and vision, which are the two main requirements for the role, gets the job?

There is a concern that because the senior Minister refuses to use the PAS, there is some reason Fáilte Ireland is going around the way it is. Why has the appointment not been made? Amrop claims to be one of the best executive search companies on this planet, but after six months it is incapable of filling the job. What is the issue?

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I will pass on Deputy Alan Kelly's concerns to the Minister as to his well-being.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I did not ask about his well-being at all.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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He is on his way to the Ireland-New Zealand rugby match in Chicago. I will also pass on the Deputy’s good wishes to the Secretary General of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. I agree with him that he does a fantastic job. I can also attest to the fantastic job the assistant secretary, who the Deputy has not met, does.

I have been informed by the board of Fáilte Ireland that it has carried out a public recruitment process, through the executive search company Amrop, for the appointment of a chief executive officer to Fáilte Ireland. The carrying out of such a process is a matter for the authority in accordance with its statutory functions and with the Government’s guidelines.

The term of office of the current chief executive officer of Fáilte Ireland, Shaun Quinn, is due to expire on 31 December 2016. I should take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution he has made to the impressive growth in the tourism sector over his years at the helm of Fáilte Ireland.

The consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to fill the chief executive post was sought and received earlier this year and was subject to a number of conditions, including that the filling of the post be by means of an open competition. The Department was informed that the authority intended to run a public process, including by means of public advertisements.

The statutory requirements governing the appointment of a CEO by Fáilte Ireland is set out in section 31 of the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003. In accordance with subsection (3) of that section, the chief executive is appointed by the authority with the consent of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Under subsection (7) of Section 31, the CEO shall hold office upon and subject to such terms and conditions, including terms and conditions relating to remuneration and allowances, as may be determined by Fáilte Ireland with the consent of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

The Department has been advised that, following consideration by the authority, it decided to undertake the recruitment process through a private recruitment firm rather than the Public Appointments Service. The Minister has been advised that the post was advertised in a number of publications in April 2016, including a national daily newspaper and a national Sunday paper. In addition, an executive search process was undertaken by Amrop. A high number of candidates were identified through these processes and, following a selection and interview process, a preferred candidate has now been identified. The authority has assured the Minister and me - I met the chairman recently - that the search and selection processes undertaken were robust and thorough and that all candidates went through the same rigorous transparent process and were dealt with in a fair manner.

On 26 October 2016, the authority sought the consent of the Minister to the appointment in accordance with its statutory obligations under section 31(3) of the Act. The authority has also sought the consent of the Minister to the terms and conditions of the appointment under section 31(7) of the Act. Both these requests are under consideration and, regarding the latter, the Minister will consult with his colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Regarding the nature of the process carried out by the authority, the decision to undertake a public process through a private company rather than the Public Appointments Services predated the Minister's appointment and mine. However, we acknowledge the fact that the processes undertaken were carried out in an open and public competitive process.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I am glad the Minister of State has confidence in his own Department. However, I find it bizarre how he or the Minister, Deputy Ross, can have confidence in their own Department yet be incapable of putting one of the two senior people in charge onto the interview board. Even if this process had to be done outside of PAS, it is incomprehensible to me that a Department is responsible for an agency whose total funding comes from the taxpayer, yet not one single person from the Department was put on the interview panel. I know who is on the interview panel, as a matter of interest, and it could have done with a member of the Department.

I am glad the Minister of State met the chairman because the Minister, Deputy Ross, has not had time to meet the chairman of one of the most important agencies in his Department, according to the reply I received. The Minister of State said that Fáilte Ireland has indicated in writing a preferred candidate. Is that candidate being put forward, and will his or her salary be kept within the public service caps? Will the Minister of State confirm and guarantee that here and now? I would like that to be known.

Regarding the overlap, which the Minister of State says happened regarding the process being undertaken, that is irrelevant because he was in place very soon afterwards and could have stopped it. I am sure he was briefed in this regard at the first meeting of his ministerial management advisory committee, MinMAC, so that could have changed straight away.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, is a hypocrite if he makes an appointment through this process and does not use the Public Appointments Service for one of the most senior appointments he will ever make as a Minister. There are jobs in his Department that go through the Public Appointments Service, so not to put this position through that system smacks of total hypocrisy by the Minister involved, and I ask the Minister of State not to be party to it.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will know, having himself been a Minister in this Department, and indeed having headed up a Department, namely, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, that there is no requirement that the authority in question, Fáilte Ireland, use the service to which the Deputy refers. The decision-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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If the Minister dictates, though, there is-----

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy had his say. I call on the Minister.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I have no reason to suggest that the decision Fáilte Ireland made on the appointment process in this case is anything other than transparent, I have no reason to suggest that it is anything other than fair and I have no reason or evidence to suggest that it is anything other than a process to try to identify the best possible candidate. If there is some reason the Deputy believes should be brought to the attention of the House, the Department or me, or if he has any evidence to suggest that the process was anything other than fair-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I have just done so.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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-----or anything other than-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I have just done so.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has not. What he has done is-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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The Department-----

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy had a good run at it.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is a former Minister.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Yes, and he should-----

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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He knows he should at least have the courtesy to allow the Minister of State to respond.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Acting Chairman.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Kelly had his six minutes; the Minister of State is entitled to his six minutes.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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Okay, Acting Chairman.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Acting Chairman.

The Deputy will know well that Fáilte Ireland's board and chairperson would take the appointment of the CEO extremely seriously. I had a recent briefing with the chairperson of Fáilte Ireland. As the national tourism development authority, it is very conscious of the fact that we need a good person heading up the organisation, particularly in the context of Brexit. Therefore, if there is any suggestion that there has been any impropriety or anything untoward in the appointment of a person, if people can suggest a reason as to why they believe there has been some sort of impropriety, they have an obligation to bring that information forward. I have not heard, other than the Deputy's-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I asked about the pay cap.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I have not heard anything other than-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I asked about the pay cap. The Minister of State has not answered the question.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Time has-----

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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If the Deputy had refrained from constantly interrupting me, he might have got the reply.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I know. The time has concluded. I thank both Deputies for their contributions, even though the debate was a little difficult-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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The Minister of State might reply in writing.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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-----to control at times.