Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I propose to deal with amendments Nos. 9 and 10 together as they are related.

I thank Senator O'Toole for this interesting and thought-provoking amendment which requires further consideration involving consultation with other Departments, and a Government decision should it be accepted. In reality, it will not be possible to give a decision on this amendment, one way or the other, on Report or Final Stages in this House later in the week. Accordingly, I intend to report on the matter on Committee Stage in the Dáil and update this House after passage of the Bill through the Dáil.

The Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to the Government provided me with amendment No. 10 following concerns raised in relation to chief executive officers of commercial and non-commercial semi-State bodies who, in line with Government policies, have rolling one year contracts spread out over seven years. The concern was that if such chief executive officers had the terms of the Bill concerning successive fixed-term contracts applied to them, they would automatically become permanent after a number of years into their contracts. It was never intended that such contracts would become permanent. The amendment addresses these concerns.