Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

It is somewhat tongue-in-cheek for me to say this, but I am inclined to leave that word "may" instead of "shall consult", to avoid being overly prescriptive. I say this as someone who represented the public interest on An Bord Altranais and the Medical Council. I worked alongside people who represented the public interest with me and they were the best workers one could find. If one was being prescriptive one could not have picked better people. My only fear is that if we insist that the Minister of the day "shall consult", that is to prescribe. If one of the 12 has a grievance against somebody being put forward, whether male or female, he or she might object and insist on an appointee from a particular organisation. The Minister of the day could never get 12 bodies to agree to one chairperson. There will always be something wrong.

When we consider past appointments, it is possible to be cynical; perhaps they were not all good. By and large, however, people who represent the interests of the general public have a great role to play and the chairperson would, ideally, be representing those interests.