Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

The issue of lifting people into jobs is much broader than political appointments. It is prevalent in the semi-State sector and is particularly prevalent in private companies in this State.

We all know how the current system works. If there are five appointments to be made, Fianna Fáil will get four and the Progressive Democrats will get one. Backbench Deputies and Senators will then be asked to suggest a suitable person for appointment by the Minister to a particular semi-State company. Such appointees may be eminent people, with vast experience in industry or the public sector and so on. I have no problem in that regard. However, I have a problem with the clandestine manner in which these appointments are made. I believe we should move to a new system, which I will briefly outline.

Parliamentary committees should scrutinise appointments to particular semi-State bodies. I passionately believe that the Government has the right to make such appointments. The Government and Minister with responsibility in that area should make the appointment proposal to a relevant committee of the House and that committee should then put the person through his or her paces. Most people would prefer to answer questions from colleagues in public on a cross-party basis in the committee system because it would show their real worth. People are afraid to be associated with one party or the other and are afraid to serve because they may be tarnished. The advantage of having appointments endorsed by committees of the Houses is that it would ensure appointees, in terms of their expertise and knowledge, are publicly vetted. We should move towards such a system. I am not suggesting all appointments should follow such procedure but it should apply to appointments in the semi-State sector. There is much merit in the proposal.

Whenever one government leaves office and another is elected there is a flood of appointments. We should apply a moratorium so that Ministers do not have the power to make appointments until a new Dáil is formed. Frequently, many such appointments are made for the wrong reasons. I support the motion because we need reform. However, we not only need reform in politics, we need reform in the semi-State sector and in private companies. We should be more honest about that. Unfortunately the culture in this country of lifting people into jobs is endemic.